Never Wanna See You Again!
by smartkid37
Summary: Those six words were the last she'd said to him the last time she saw him. Will they haunt her for the rest of her life?    Takes place prior to Borderland.
1. Chapter 1

_Inspired, believe it or not; by a spoken line in a cartoon!_

Wow, these plot bunnies pop up outta nowhere, don't they?

_Thank you Shelbylou, for your invaluable help with this chapter._

* * *

"_**Are you serious?"**_

"_Very." _

"_**NO! I will not listen to you! In case you've missed it, I'm an adult now! You can't do this to me anymore!"**_

"_You're still my responsibility! You always will be. It's my job to keep you safe! Why can't you see that I know what I'm talking about?"_

"_**Whatever! It doesn't give you the right to smother me like this! Stop trying to ruin my life! In fact, go away! Just leave me alone!**_

"_**Hey…"**_

"_**I mean it! I never wanna see you again!"**_

Shaking with rage, she stomped off in the pre-dawn darkness, her hair flouncing as she went. Anger literally vibrated off her leaving the air crackling in her wake. _How dare he try to run her life like this! Who did he think he was, trying to tell her what to do anymore, she wasn't a kid! For God's sake, she was a grown woman! Why the hell couldn't he admit that and start treating her like one? _

He watched her leave, his broken heart lying in pieces on the sidewalk in front of him. He'd failed her. Even worse, she'd been furious and rebellious, which meant she'd be acting purely on anger now instead of thinking rationally. _God, don't let anything happen to her. Please let me be wrong!_

Feeling the weight of responsibility weighing down heavily on him, he trudged wearily to his car with his shoulders stooped in defeat and stopped short at the sight of the flat tire, deflating him even worse. With a sigh of resignation, he took out his cell phone winced when he noticed that it was already 06:30 and made the necessary call that he knew without a shadow of a doubt, would send his day even further down the tubes. Wiping a hand dejectedly across his face, he manned up and did what he needed to do.

"_Yeah. Gibbs"_

He winced slightly at the sound of his boss' voice and felt the nervousness rise. "Boss, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be late. I have to change the flat on my car."

"_Get here when you can, McGee._ " Gibbs' reply was unusually calm and settled him slightly. "_Be quick about it."_

"I will." He answered but was met with nothing but dead air. Of course, the man had hung up, he always cut the phone calls as short as possible. _Shoulda expected that. _With yet another sigh of resignation, Tim popped the trunk of his car and dug out his tire iron to get started changing his tire. Luckily, he kept his trunk nearly clear of anything else for this reason and it was almost no time before he'd shed his work windbreaker and rolled up his sleeves, and set about what he needed to do.

* * *

"Where the hell's McGee?" Gibbs barked into the quite squad room.

"Boss? Didn't he call you and say he'd be late?" Tony's forehead was crinkled with confusion at his boss' question.

"Two hours ago, DiNozzo! It doesn't take an hour and a half to change a damn tire!"

"Have you tried calling him, Gibbs?" Ziva asked calmly.

"Now, why didn't I think of that, Da'vid?" Gibbs' sarcastic reply wasn't lost on Ziva and she sat there glaring at Gibbs.

"GIBBS!" Abby's anxious cry carried through the squad room, interrupting the tense standoff between the agents. "Where's McGee? Why hasn't he been down to see me yet? He was supposed to be bringing me a copy of a cd I wanted first thing this morning! I was looking forward to hearing that band today while I worked!"

"He's late." Tony jumped in before anyone else could answer, earning him a glare from both Abby and Gibbs.

"He called to say he would be late because he was changing the flat tire on his car, Abby." Ziva tried to interject some calm into the increasing tension.

"What? How long ago?" the resident lab rat demanded, looking to her surrogate father for the answer she needed, knowing he'd give it to her.

"Long enough that he's late now." Tony muttered as he purposely sent his complete attention to the case work in front of him. He was unwilling to see anymore of the boss' anger directed his way, but for some reason he found himself unable to stop himself from voicing the comment anyway.

"HOW long ago?" she demanded loudly. Her anger and worry were tangible in her voice as it rang through the squad room.

"Two hours." Ziva admitted quietly.

"GIBBS! Why are you all here? Why aren't you out there looking for him?" Everyone cringed at her shrill voice as it got louder "You know Timmy's NEVER late!"

"Tried callin' him, Abbs. He's not answerin'" Gibbs told her quietly.

"Is his phone on? Cause if it's on, I'll have his location in a jiffy and you'll go get him, right?"

"It's on." Tony said without looking up from his work.

"Let us know, Abbs." The boss told her with more calm than he was feeling. His gut was agreeing with Abby's instant claim that something was wrong where his youngest agent was concerned. He was also angry; at himself for not looking into this sooner. _Why hadn't he? What would all this wasted time mean for Tim?_

* * *

The pain flared and seemed to overflow before he'd even woken up fully from the blackness that had stolen him away from the light. Even through the waves of agony, his brain tried to kick itself into gear with questions that begun to come to mind. They were almost relentless in their attack and left his head spinning. _What the hell had happened? Last thing he remembered was lifting the spare tire out of the trunk of his car. Why was he in so much pain? How long had he been out? Why was he out in the first place?_ He opened his eyes and tried to focus but was met with nothing but pitch black darkness. He'd never been good at seeing in the dark. _Great! Just Great! _

Moving his head, he made an effort to try to check out his surroundings anyway but was unable to stop the moan of pain that escaped his lips as the movement jarred his pounding head. Even laying down like he apparently was, was painful and as he moved, a spot at the back of his head seemed to be where the pain radiated from. He knew that he'd probably gotten a fairly large goose egg there and tried to move his arms to check. _God, I'm laid out like some sort of human sacrifice! _He thought when he was met with resistance and felt his stretched out limbs starting to ache from the strain. With a groan, he tried to raise his arms slightly to see if he could relieve the pull slightly. He couldn't. In fact, moving only seemed to expedite the pain in his arms. It was only when he tried to move his legs, that he realized that he couldn't move those limbs either and trying to do so, sent waves of pain up them as well. _Jeez, he felt like he'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson! What the hell had happened? Where the hell was he? Why? _

Beyond the pain, his brain registered the limited mobility in all four of his limbs and realized each of them was strapped down by some sort of tether. Exactly what had been used to do the job and to what, was something he had yet to figure out.

"_Guess you're awake. Looks like you didn't get enough of a beating to stay out for the count." _

The rough voice startled Tim and he felt his breath catch for a beat. "Wh..? He couldn't find his voice enough to ask the questions burning in his mind. _Who the hell was this guy? What was he gonna do to Tim? Why?_

"_Lemme guess. You're expecting me to answer a whole lotta questions now, Am I right?"_

"Yeah." Tim managed to croak out through parched lips and discovered that his throat was agonizingly sore.

"_Guess I can answer a few, since you won't be getting' anything else from me; like help or light to see with or whatever else it is you're used to. The little luxuries that have put you on that pedestal that you think you're on that lets you have no problem with telling people what to do. Go ahead, ask away._

"Why?" Came the quivering question.

"_Interesting first question. I think I'll save that answer for last. Next question."_

"Who r you?" Tim croaked. Every word that he spoke caused him discomfort and his throat felt as though it had been shredded with razor blades.

"_Hmm. A friend. "_

"Doubt it." Tim managed to get out.

"_Oh, you didn't think I meant a friend of __**yours,**__ did you? Nope, definatley not one of yours. Someone you know, though."_

"Tells me… lot" Tim found the strength to push past the discomfort in his throat to tell his captor with enough attitude, that his anger wouldn't be missed.

"_Don't get rude, man. You were raised better than that! I'm pretty sure you don't wanna make me mad. Besides, I could just leave, ya know. Ya know, I don't have to be here tryin' to be nice! It won't bother me to leave you here alone. No food, no water, no light. Tied. Helpless, Alone!"_

"How'd…know.. I…raised?" The trapped young man asked between gasps for breath as the pain from his injuries assaulted him.

"_Like I said, I'm a friend of someone you know. Don't make me repeat myself. I hate to repeat myself. You won't like it when I get mad. I'm pretty sure you're still feelin' the effects from the last time you made me mad."_

"What? When…w…that?"

"_Oh, about two and half hours ago."_

"How'd I …d...that?" Tim asked hesitantly, his irritated throat severely hampering his ability to sound strong. He watched for anything that moved, hoping he'd finally be able to see something in the darkness because being in a darkened room with just a voice surrounding him was beyond sinister. He felt like he was guest starring in one of Tony's 'classic' movies.

"_You weren't exactly cooperative when I told you to come with me." _That voice spoke again only this time, it was much closer to him than before. While no physical body appeared out of the darkness, there did seem to be a pair of eyes almost glowing at him. Big green eyes that were boring a hole right through him. Tim doubted he'd ever forget those eyes as long as he lived.

"Why?" Tim asked again, finding a sudden surge of strength from within himself so that he could demand answers from his captor.

"_I'm doin' a favor for a friend. You're almost out of free questions. Better ask carefully." _

"Wh…What friend?" Tim asked as he found his own eyes glued to the ones staring back at him predatorily. Suddenly, Ti m shivered as tendrils of unease slivered under his skin and up his spine.

"_Ya know, if' you'd just learn to stay out of people's lives and stop trying to tell them what to do, you wouldn't be in this mess!"_

"Who's life?" Tim rasped out again.

"_No more questions. Told you to ask carefully" The eyes vanished into the darkness as h_is captor walked away from Tim without another word.

"HEY! Damn it! What friend? Who's life?" Tim yelled out angrily even as his throat scratched painfully in protest.

The bone chilling noise of a heavy door banging shut was the only answer Tim got.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Where the hell's McGee?"  
"Boss? Didn't he call you and say he'd be late?"  
"Two hours ago, DiNozzo! It doesn't take an hour and a half to change a damn tire!"_

Two hours had now become three and with no obvious leads as to where Tim might be, the lack of clues was not helping to alleviate or even ease their worry or fear about what might have happened to their missing team member_. _ Even now, Gibbs was up with the director, probably chewing him out for making them stay to finish up reports he suddenly had to have, instead of letting them go look for Tim. With any luck, the Team Leader was also demanding that the team to be taken off the duty roster while they searched for and until they found Tim.. In the meantime, it was all Tony could do to even pretend to be working while they waited for the plan to be revealed for finding Tim and getting him back. Ziva had given up the pretending and was doing God only knew what on her computer while she waited.

Countless moments later, Gibbs stalked back into the squad room, having gotten what he wanted, but still no closer to finding the answers he needed to help them find his missing agent. Angry and worried, the boss didn't spare a word to either of his remaining team members, knowing if they had something to tell him that he needed to hear, they'd have spoken up by now.

The tense air between them was shattered with the ringing of Tim's desk phone. Stalking over to it, Gibbs angrily snatched the phone off it's cradle and barked into it.

"Yeah, Gibbs!"

"_Agent Gibbs? I'm sorry. I thought this was Tim's desk phone."_

"Who is this?"

"_Sarah. Tim's sister. I'm sorry I called him during work, but he's not answering his cell phone."_

"Was there something you needed, Sarah?" Gibbs asked with a lot more calm in his tone than he'd had a mere minute ago. The last thing he wanted was to scare her about her brother; especially, when he had no facts to go by.

"_I just wanted to tell him I was sorry and that I didn't mean what I said to him this morning."_ Her voice broke and her sobs could be heard through the line, all the way to Ziva and Tony's desks

Both of them , almost in tandem, stood up, geared up and rounded their desks, silently waiting for the only information they needed before moving out.

"Sarah, where are you? The boss asked as he looked at his Senior Field Agent , silently communicating his agreement with their obvious intent to go get their missing teammate's little sister.

"_What? Oh, I'm at the coffee shop across from the Campus Library. Why? Agent Gibbs, did something happen to my brother?" _Sarah ended on a note that closely resembled hysteria_._

"We're not sure. Look, stay put and let Tony and Ziva come get you, alright?"

"_Uh, I can come there on my own." _She offered tearfully_."It's just going on 9:30 now, I've got time, since I don't have any classes today."_

"No need. They'll be there soon. You have any trouble you call me back, you got me?" Gibbs demanded quietly but with authority.

"_Yes, Sir." _She answered with tears still evident in her quivering voice_._

"Good girl. Stay put." Gibbs answered as he hung up the phone. Looking at Ziva, he warned her. "Coffee shop across from the campus library."

Crossing to his own desk, he snatched up a small piece of paper and began to write something down as his agents headed toward the elevator. "Hold on!" he called out to them. "DiNozzo!"

Gibbs held out the piece of paper he'd written Sarah's number on and waited for Tony to come back and take it. "Call her back, keep her talking until you get there." See what info you can get out of her without scaring her with possibilities."

"On it, Boss." Tony reassured him as he ran back to the elevator that Ziva was holding open for him.

After his agents were gone, Gibbs snapped out his cell phone and made a call.

"_Hello, Jethro. What can I do for you?" _The NCIS Medical Examiner asked in his normal welcoming tone.

"Duck. Got a minute? Got a situation I could use your input on."

"_Certainly. I take it that you are needing my presence in your squad room rather than down here in Autopsy so I shall be up there momentarily."_

"Thanks, Duck."

* * *

Alone. surrounded by darkness and tied to the legs of a table not long enough for his almost 6'1 &1/2" frame with his knees hung off the edge, Tim McGee felt emotions he'd never thought himself capable of before on top of the physical agony he was already feeling. This was worse than when the team had rescued Ziva from Salim's horrors. At least that had been anticipated, planned and supported by backup. This was so completely opposite of all of that, it made Tim's blood boil with a rage so potent, he thought he'd go crazy.

But the longer he lay there, in the dark, alone, scared and hurting; yeah, definitely in physical pain from the beat down he'd obviously had delivered to him; the more he realized, it wasn't his anger that was driving him crazy; it was all the unknowns that had perpetrated this horrible nightmare on him and the total sense of helplessness it brought down on him. It nearly drove his rage through the roof, but the need to survive and think his way out of this, trumped anything else that crossed his mind. _Treat this like a case, McGee. Case first, Reactions later. Don't let the boss find out you didn't come outta this alive because you didn't follow that rule, Probie! Right! Onto the important questions: Who the hell is this guy? And who's life have I interfered with that's got this guy pissed off enough to do something like this? What right did that give this guy to deal with it like this? What the hell have I done that would warrant this? I mean the beating maybe, but this? This is just; just wrong! _

With sheer determination, Tim mentally continued to shove his unruly anger down deep inside so he could keep a clear head. He knew he needed to settle down so he could reserve his strength and go back to thinking clearly. _Maybe, just maybe this wouldn't end too badly. Maybe he'd make it out of this alive. If Ziva could survive the hell she'd gone through, then he could survive this._

* * *

Thirty minutes after they'd left out, Tony and Ziva returned to the squad room, with a nearly hysterical Sarah McGee. As the trio rounded the desks and came face to face with Gibbs and Ducky, Sarah's breath choked on a sob and she flew to Gibbs, burying her head in his chest, seeking strength and his promise that her big brother was okay.

Instinctively, Gibbs' wrapped an arm around the obviously devastated young woman even as he looked to his agents for an answer as to what they'd gotten from her about her brother's whereabouts or at least why she was taking her inability to locate him this badly.

"She hasn't said a word, all the way here. She hasn't stopped crying long enough." Tony told his boss sadly.

Gibbs looked at Ducky for a suggestion. The M.E. nodded his head and moved to gently urge Sarah to go with him.

"Come, my dear, let's go sit and have a relaxing cup of tea and we'll see if we can figure this out, all right?"

"You…. haven't… heard from….him?" Sarah hiccophed through her tears as she looked sorrowfully at her brother's boss.

"No. Not yet. Go on, let Dr. Mallard get you some tea. Then we'll talk. But, first, you need to calm down, alright?"

"I can't!" Sarah wailed plaintively.

"Sarah?" Abby's unexpected and now worried tone carried through the squad room as the lab rat came running at the younger woman's outcry. "Sarah, what is it? Do you know where your brother is?"

"NO! Something's happened to him, I just know it! And it's all my fault!"

Gibbs reached out and took a secure hold of Sarah's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Hey!" He barked firmly." Calm down!"

Instead of doing what he'd told her to do, she burst into a fresh round of tears at Gibbs expectations.

Shaking his head, Ducky removed Sarah from Gibbs' hold and began walking her toward the back elevator so he could take her to his office where he kept his tea and the special pot he used to brew it in.

Abby glared at Gibbs for a silent minute before running after Ducky and helping him take Sarah down to Autopsy.

Blowing out a sigh of frustration mixed with genuine worry, Gibbs turned his attention to his agents. "What'd you find out? Anything?"

"No. I think we should go talk to McGee's neighbors." Ziva answered calmly.

"Yeah. Go." Gibbs agreed. "Check out his apartment, too."

* * *

"Now, my dear. Come and sit down here in my office." Ducky soothingly suggested as he stepped over to his tea pot and allowed Abby to sit with Sarah. Jimmy Palmer watched from the doorway as the women settled not in the chairs, as Ducky had suggested, but on his couch, Sarah pulling her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around them tightly, as the tears continued to flow.

Ducky sensed his assistant 's worry and uncertainity as to how he could help and turned to him. "Mr. Palmer, there is little you can do here and since we have no guests in our suite at the moment, why don't you go and ask Agent Gibbs if there is anything you can do to help locate Timothy for us?"

"Umh, Dr. Mallard, I doubt…."

"I know, young man, but believe me, the attempt will be most appreciated by us all."

"Oh. Alright. Yeah, I can do that." Jimmy answered before leaving them to do as the M.E. requested.

* * *

"How can that be, Tony?" Ziva asked in shock some two nearly fruitless hours later. "How is it that in a complex this size, no one saw anything out of the ordinary? McGee did NOT just vanish!"

"People work, Ziva. People sleep and people turn a blind eye to anything that might bring trouble down on them if they're a witness. Human nature." Tony's dispassionate response seemed to spur Ziva to even more anger.

"Why does this not bother you?"

"Oh, it bothers me. Trust me, it bothers me a hellofa lot. I've just seen a lot more of it, after my time on the police force. It's actually quite a surprise when someone does prove to be helpful."

"How are we to find McGee now? Tony, It is 1200. Do you realize he has been missing for nearly six hours? There is no way of knowing how much has been done to him in that much time. "

"I know, Ziva. Let's just hope Sarah can tell us something. My money's on the surveillance tapes we got from the complex manager, though."

With that having been said, the two of them silently headed out of the apartment complex and walked toward their car, both of their hearts heavy with worry and anger over this whole ordeal and the ugly possibilities it was raising for their missing teammate.

"Wait up! Hey!"

"Are you talking to us?" Ziva asked the young woman who was running toward them as if her hair was on fire.

"Yes! I heard you asking Tim's neighbors if anyone saw anything unusual this morning. Did something happen to Agent McGee?"

Tony exchanged worried looks with Ziva before both of them turned their gazes onto the woman.

"Why would you ask that?" Tony asked in measured tones.

"Because he and his sister had this really bad argument this morning, out on the landing by Tim's door. Of course, since they're siblings, it's not uncommon for them to have a disagreement, but this one was really bad. "

"Really bad, how?" Tony asked.

"Well, Sarah was so angry, she was literally screaming at Tim. And he was mad, sure; but he kept his tone more calm and even than hers was. I mean you could still hear what they were saying but…"

"Please. Tell us what you heard." Ziva requested. "But, tell us who you are, first."

"Oh, right! I'm sorry. I'm Mrs. Andrews. I've only lived here a couple of months but we all know Agent McGee and his sister. They're good people. Wait! You think Sarah's done something to her brother?" she asked in shock.

"Why would you ask _that_?" Ziva asked with shock of her own.

"Because she told him she never wanted to see him again!"


	3. Chapter 3

The ride back to the Navy Yard was nearly a silent one. The gears in Tony's and Ziva's brains were both working so hard to process what they'd been told, it was a wonder the grinding from them wasn't audible to them both. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Ziva voiced her need for clarification.

"Tony. We are have seen that McGee puts his sister above everything; even his job. If you recall, he quit NCIS and only Gibbs' talking him out of it stopped him from leaving after the way Jenny berated him over that mess. What could have possibly happened to make Sarah turn on him that way? Why would she ever say such horrible things to him after the way he has always defended her and looked out for her?"

"Ziva. We don't know any of what goes on between those two. The only thing we know is what we saw of them together when Sarah was framed for Petty's murder way back when. One situation doesn't necessarily dictate their entire relationship."

"That may true. But, we do know McGee. We know that he was willing to lie to Gibbs to protect her. Does that not say enough for you to know that what I am saying is right?"

"Pretty damn close. Guess we gotta talk to Sarah when we get back."

"Definitely. Tony, we should have called Gibbs and told him this already."

"Yeah. Go ahead and call him. Ten minutes before we get there is better than not callin' him at all." Tony admitted in complete seriousness.

Ziva pulled out her cell phone hit the speed dial button for Gibbs.

* * *

Snapping his cell phone shut, Gibbs nearly jumped out of his seat, startling Jimmy as he sat in Tim's chair. The young man had been told a while ago that the Team Leader didn't have anything he could do to help find Tim, but that he could sit and answer the phones for him til the others got back if he wanted. Gibbs had forgotten his presence, so lost in his worried thoughts, he'd been.

When the cell phone had rung a minute ago, Gibbs had snatched it open before the first ring was done.

"Yeah, Gibbs!"

"_Gibbs, we talked to the neighbors and only one remembers seeing or hearing anything unusual."_

"Go on."

"_She says McGee and his sister had an extremely bad argument this morning. Apparently, Sarah was screaming at her brother, much louder than he was yelling back at her."_

"Anything else?"

"_Apparently, Sarah told McGee that she never wanted to see him again."_

"That it?"

"No, we were also able to obtain the surveillance video tapes from this morning from both vantage points."

"_And?"_

"That is all. Apparently, no other neighbors saw or heard anything. I do not know how…." Ziva stopped as she realized the boss had hung up already.

"Guess he didn't take that last part too well." Tony suggested dryly.

"I do not believe Sarah did anything bad to her brother." Ziva declared staunchly.

"I don't either, Zee . But, I'd put my paycheck down on whoever she's datin'." Tony suggested firmly.

"What? Why is it you always suspect the significant other, Tony?" his partner asked in frustration.

"Look how many times I've been proven right. And think about it, Ziva. What else would rile a little sister more than big brother checking out her dates as thoroughly as we know McGee does?" Tony reasoned out.

"When you put it like that. It makes sense, Tony. We should call Gibbs back and tell him."

"No need."

"No need?"

"Trust me, he's figured it out already. Right about now, whoever Sarah McGee has been dating has just landed himself right smack on the top of El Jefe's suspect list."

* * *

Angrily, Gibbs made his way down to Autopsy, needing, wanting to talk to Sarah McGee. Whatever had happened to her brother; his agent; had something to do with her. He was sure of it. In fact, he'd bet a month's pay that she was seeing someone Tim didn't approve of. It would be the only thing Tim would ever put his foot down like it sounded like he'd done. He just hoped whoever this guy was, hadn't killed Tim. If being the best big brother he knew how to be had gotten his agent hurt or worse; heads were gonna roll; starting with Little Sister.

As he entered Ducky's office, he was brought up short at the sight of Sarah McGee sitting on Ducky's couch, her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them tightly. Still, he need some answers and he had no time to waste. "Sarah. Time you told us what you know." He told her without hesitation.

"What? Agent Gibbs, I don't know anything." She defensively told him as she wiped her hand across her face.

"Oh, yes you do. What'd you and your brother fight about this morning?" he pushed her firmly, his anger rising already.

"How'd you…."

"When you called Tim's desk phone earleir, you said you were looking for him so you could apologize to him for what you said to him this morning. Tim's neighbors said you were screaming at him. Stop wasting time. What was the fight about?"

"Jethro..." Ducky began to admonish the team leader.

"NO, Duck. McGee is missing, possibly lying dead somewhere. Pretty damn good probability that it's because of whatever they fought about this morning. Le'me guess, was it your boyfriend? Your brother doesn't approve of him? Knowing your brother, he ran a background check on him, told you to stop seeing him and you returned the favor by telling him you never wanted to see him again. Am I right?"

"How do you know that?" she asked in shock as her voice quivered.

"I'll take that as a yes." Gibbs bit out angrily. "The fact that there's been no call for ransom says your brother may not be coming back! Now answer my questions!"

Abby sucked in a pained breath, reminding them all of her forgotten presence. "Sarah? Is it true? After everything he's done for you? He lied to Gibbs for you! He quit his job for you!" She cried out in pained disbelief, horror etched across her features at the thought of what this meant for her dear Timmy.

"Is what true? What are you saying?" Sarah cried out in distress, her wide eyes darting everywhere in an almost desperate search for something.

"What's the guy's name?" Gibbs pushed, ignoring Abby's reaction and Sarah's questions. Even Ducky's agitation was mentally shrugged off momentarily in search of the answers the Team Leader needed.

"Edward." Sarah admitted quietly, her demeanor changing to that of defeat as her eyes hit the floor and her shoulders slumped.

"Gonna have to do better than that." Gibbs goaded her with steel in his voice.

"Pike. Edward Pike. But, there's no way, he'd do anything to hurt anybody!" Sarah cried defensively, raising her eyes back up to meet his with a glare of anger.

Turning toward his Forensic Scientist, Gibbs gestured in his silent command for Abby to go track down what she could on the guy in Tim's absence.

Abby fled to her lab, anxious to do what she could to help them find her best friend. _Oh, Timmy! Wherever you are, you'd better hang in there!_

Gibbs turned his angry glare back to Sarah as he addressed her defensive decree. "I'm not willing to risk your brother's life on that chance. Are you?"

Sarah wordlessly shook her head, once again, too shaken and distraught to formulate a verbal answer.

"Then I suggest you be prepared to start talkin' when I get back! Gibbs glanced at his friend and noted how agitated the older man still seemed. Still he knew that Ducky understood where he was coming from and so without another word, the younger man kept walking, anxious to be away from his agent's little sister before he did or said something Ducky would really have reason to take his head off for.

* * *

Awareness came back to him with a wave of physical pain he couldn't stop. Grimacing through the worst of it, he couldn't find the energy or wherewithal to even think about anything else. Once the worst had past and the residual soreness settled in its' place, Tim was finally able to get his brain to engage into its thought process. With no idea how much time had passed since his tormentor had left without answering his question, Tim tried hard to relax and find a way to think about surviving without doing anything stupid. Before he could come up with any concrete ideas, since the constant severe aches and pains kept him extremely uncomfortable and unable to think straight for very long, the guy was suddenly back, his footsteps sounding ominously heavy as he walked. It wasn't long before the eyes were back in Tim's line of sight, once again staring at him gleamingly.

"_Well, I've got better things to do than babysit you, I think you've gotten the message, since you've had all day in here to think about it even if you have spent most of the time sleeping. So I'm gonna make this real easy for ya. We're gonna reach an understanding. Then I'm gonna let you go. The deal's real simple. You do as I say; you give me your word – and I'll let you go. You go back on your word and I'll hunt your sorry ass down and this time when I get my hands on ya, I'll just kill ya; get ya out of my hair and my friend's hair for good. Sound fair enough to you?"_

"Depends." Tim answered guardedly with his heart in his throat, unsure of what this guy could possibly want from him.

"_Oh, here we go with the demands. That's rich coming from someone in your position. Kinda think you should be remembering that's the attitude that got you here in the first place, don't you? Guess you should count yourself lucky that I'm not in the mood to fool with you any more, otherwise I'd be kicking your ass again." The eyes disappeared as the voice traveled in testimony to the restless moves his captor was going through._

"No demands. Just need to know what is it you want?" Tim was quick to calmly reply as he tried to calm the situation before it became dangerous for him. A sense of calm would give him a better chance to make it out of this mess alive.

"_Just a couple of rules. Think you can obey one or two rules?" The eyes returned, staring once more, unsettling Tim yet again._

"Depends on the rules." Once again, Tim's answer was cautious, as this time, he dared to look away from those eyes.

"_Hmm. Wonder if you've ever given that answer to that boss of yours.. No matter, These are the rules._

_1. You will not tell a soul about our little adventure today._

_2. You will not tell anyone what to do any more, not even that dog of yours! Not about anything!_

_Oh that brings me to a 3__rd__ rule:_

_3. Get rid of that damn dog!_

_Simple enough for you?"_

"Yeah." Tim answered quietly as his rage rekindled in his soul. He'd reached a point where he couldn't look in the direction of his captor's eyes any more. They were already burned into his memory quite painfully.

"_Good. So is this you giving me your word as an inherently honest person that you'll abide by these three rules?_"

"Inher…? uhm…Yeah." Tim gave up trying to ask any questions or trying to figure out just how smart this confusing guy was and decided to just give the man the answer he was obviously wanting. With the promise of freedom waiting possibly one or two correct answers away, Tim wasn't going to risk messing it up with any more questions.

"_That was easy. In that case, all that's left is for you to go back to sleep. When you wake up this will all have been just a weird little dream, right?." _

"Sure." Tim answered in his still all too quiet tone, unsure of how this guy was gonna get Tim to just fall asleep again. He hated to think of what might be coming his way but before he could think on it further, the bastard was talking again.

"_Good! Oh, and just to make sure you've got enough incentive to follow the rules; if you do happen to 'slip up' and tell someone about this or try to run someone's life again or forget to get rid of the dog today? You'll find someone very close to you paying the price because I'll be watching you."_

"I won't slip up." Tim vowed with steel in his raspy voice. he woudn't be giving this guy the satisfaction of having another go at him.

"_Make sure you don't" the voice growled at him._

Before Tim even realized what was coming, a fist slammed into his head, yet again and the lights went out one more time.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony and Ziva returned to the squad room to find Jimmy sitting at Tim's desk. Almost without thinking, Tony started to yell at the poor guy. "Hey!"

Ziva put her hand on Tony's arm. "Tony, do not take it out on Palmer. I am sure there is a good reason for him to be sitting at McGee's desk."

"Hi guys, Yeah, I'm sorry for sitting here, but Agent Gibbs suggested it in case Tim's phone rang, you know, in case whoever took him ..." Jimmy offered quietly, his feeling of being uncomfortable there quite obvious to both of them.

"Sorry, Palmer." Tony offered glumly.

"No, it's okay, Tony, I get it. Since you're back, I'm gonna head back down to Autopsy. Maybe Dr. Mallard's finished talking with Sarah." the younger man replied as he stood to head out of the squad room.

"Not likely, Palmer." Gibbs offered with steel in his tone as he walked in and steadily traversed the length of the squad room from Tony's desk, obviously headed for the back elevator himself. C'mon! Let's go see what Abby's come up with on this bastard McGee's sister's hooked up with! Bring those tapes!"

Before they'd taken a half dozen steps toward the back elevator, Tim's desk phone rang. Tony backpedaled and snatched the phone up. "Agent DiNozzo."

"_I'm looking for Timothy McGee!"_ a deep voice barked across the phone line.

"He's not here right now, I'll be happy to take a message."

"_Let me talk to that boss of his!" _

Tony pulled the phone away from his ear in irritation and held it out to Gibbs. "Somebody demanding to talk to you since Mc….?"

Gibbs snatched the phone and barked into it. "Agent Gibbs."

"_You Timothy's boss?" _the angry voice boomed without hesitation_.  
_

"Who's asking?" Gibbs demanded angrily in return.

"_Care to tell me why I can't reach my son in the middle of the work day?"_

"Mr. McGee, I take it?"

"_That's right! Now, I wanna know where that no-good son of mine is so I can set him straight. He had no right to treat my princess the way he did this morning! He thinks just because he somehow managed to talk someone into giving his sorry ass a gun and a badge that he's my little girl's self-appointed judge and jury? I want to talk to him, right now!"_

"Mr. McGee…" Gibbs was pissed now, since there was no doubt in his mind that Tim's father didn't care one whit about his son being in trouble or danger.

"_Where the hell is he?"_

"Missing." The Team Leader admitted quietly while trying his damnedest to hide how riled he was at this man's callous disregard for his son.

" _I don't believe that. He's just holed up somewhere until the smoke clears from his latest attempt at controlling his sister! Probably off cowering in a corner or under arock somewhere! Damn weasly, egotistical punk!"_

"Mr. McGee, I don't have time to argue with you. Your son is missing and we're trying to find him." Gibbs said with steel in his voice as he dropped the reciever down onto its' cradle, hanging up on the man.

"Boss?" Tony asked with concern.

"Leave it, DiNozzo." Gibbs snapped as he led the way to the lab without another word.

Tony nodded with understanding and refrained from saying anything else, completely understanding that the boss was holding onto his temper by the very limits of his self-control.

* * *

With Brainmatter's head banging noise blaring through her cd player's speaker, Abby was buried under a veil of concentration wrapped in anger, coated in disbelief while she ran her searches for any and all information on this Edward Pike. She was thankful he had no hardcore criminal record. Somehow, this eased her fears for her Timmy. Knowing this guy was Sarah's newest boyfriend did little to ease that fear, sadly enough. Finding out that he'd been arrested on numerous occasions for instigating bar room fights and even road rage certainly heightened her sense of unease despite the lack of worse charges. This guy, judging from his photo, seemed to ooze trouble.

According to his statistic on his arrest record, Edward Pike stood 6'3 ½ ", two inches taller than her Timmy. This guy tipped the scale at a whopping 250 pounds. They all knew, Timmy had lost all his excess body fat, and then some. This guy could easily wipe the floor with their guy. Wiping tears from her eyes, she kept digging for more information.

Abby knew what it was to get hooked up with the wrong guy. Michael Mawher had been proof of that. Sarah was a lot younger than Abby had been when she'd made that mistake. But, anytime Abby began to feel a glimmer of sympathy for Sarah, her brain screamed at her that Timmy had tried to stop this madness and he was paying the price; up against someone twice his size!

It was little wonder that by the time Gibbs and company made it back to Abby's Lab, the resident Goth was more than uptight. When the team trouped in and noticed the rigidness of her motions, the extra volume on her stereo and the extra strength in her keystrokes, nothing else was said as Gibbs headed for the stereo to turn it down while Ziva and Tony headed over to Abby, each coming to stand at one of her shoulders.

"Hey, Abbs. What'd you find out?" Tony asked her gently.

"This guy's bad news! Look at him!" she practically snarled, hitting the right keys so that what she was looking at, was soon showing up on the plasma screen for the rest of them to see.

"Son of a…." Tony muttered. "What the hell's she doin' with the likes of him? No damn wonder McGoo was pissed."

"I agree. This is not someone McGee would approve of to date his sister. It is easy to understand why they fought about this." Ziva remarked cautiously.

"Can you _find_ him?" Gibbs asked sharply, refocusing the discussion.

"His paper trail is easy enough to find. He has usual haunts, game stores, pizza places, and the movies, but other than that, no. He has no current address of his own. I can't even find a place of employment on him!" Abby said with disgust. "All I've got is a P.O. Box."

"How's that possible?" Tony demanded "What is he; a freeloader?"

"No. He lives with his parents." Sarah told them quietly from the doorway, where she stood with Ducky right behind her.

Abby's spine stiffened up and she deliberately kept herself focused and turned to her computer, ignoring Tim's sister. Her earlier compassion and sympathy for this young woman was long gone in the face of her missing friend and Sarah's obvious part in it.

"Start talkin'" Gibbs bit out at Sarah as he glared at her with pure fury.

"You were right, Agent Gibbs. It happened just like you said. I had it out with Tim this morning because he told me about the background check he ran on Ed. When he forbid me from seeing Ed, I just lost it. I'm an aduilt, have been for several years now and I just wanted Tim to stop treating me like a kid!" Sarah defended herself.

"How's that workin' for ya?" Tony asked angrily. "Cause it obviously sure aint' workin' out too good for your brother!"

"How the hell does that give you the right to tell him you never wanted to see him again? After everything he's done for you!" Abby demanded bitingly as she whipped around to face her adversary, her pigtails flapping around as she moved.

"Oh, C'mon, Abby! Don't stand there and act like you've never been cruel to my brother! You've hurt him more times than I can count!" Sarah lashed out angrily. "Don't you dare pass judgment on me! You either, Tony! Don't think I don't know how crappy you treat Tim! All the mean things you've done to him; I mean, c'mon! You pretended to be woman online to lure my brother ; purely out of your need to ridicule him; no matter how private or painful that part of his life has been for him, for cryin' out loud! Every single one of you has treated Tim like crap at least once so all of you, just stop judging me!"

"I never set my ox of a boyfriend on him!" Abby spat angrily. "I would NEVER have him kidnapped! Or hurt him like he will have!" she pointed to the mug shot on her computer monitor."

"I didn't ask for this either! I never meant for Tim to get hurt! I wasn't tryin' to hurt him! All I did is argue with him! I only wanted him to stop trying to control my life! I wanted him to let me make my own decisions and mistakes! Is that so hard to understand? "I didn't even mean for them to meet!" Sarah shot back with matching fury. "Besides, we don't even know for sure that Tim has been kidnapped! We don't know that Ed's done ANYTHING to Tim!"

"Hey!" Gibbs barked loudly. "Knock it off! Both of ya's! Sarah, you got anything that might help us find your brother, I suggest you start talkin' Abby, calm down and focus! Goin' at each other isn't helpin' us find McGee! Unless you want me to start knockin' some heads around, you better focus on finding him right now!""

Abby sighed loudly as she pulled herself together, with Ziva's calming hand on her shoulder and Tony still standing beside her to lean on, even as he struggled to deal with the wave of guilt Sarah had just dealt him.

"Sorry, Bossman." Abby murmured.

Gibbs walked up behind her and whispered in her ear. "Stay focused! Let's get him back first, then we'll worry about this other stuff, alright?"

"Right, Gibbs." She vowed as she stood ready to input whatever information Sarah had to offer.

"Here, Abby." Ziva held out the video tapes. "These are from this morning from McGee's floor outside his apartment and the parking lot where his parking space is located."

"Ziva! Why didn't you say so when you first got here?" Abby asked angrily as she snatched the tapes and went to work looking for clues as to what had happened to her friend.

"Start with the one on his car, Abbs. We pretty much already know what happened before that." Tony said angrily with a glare directed once more at the now silent Sarah.

It wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. With gasps of horror, they watched as their unsuspecting teammate reached his car, noticed his flat tire, winced when he looked at his watch, called Gibbs and then set about preparing to change his tire. The sense of horror came from the bulk of a man standing completely out of Tim's sight, but not out of sight from the camera as he stood menacingly watching Tim and then progressing angrily towards him while Tim's back was turned away from him.

With their hearts in their throats, the team stared at the video as it showed the culprit waiting until Tim was digging his tire out of his trunk before snatching the tire iron up from where Tim had set it on the ground by his flat tire; and striking Tim in the head with it from behind, as he lifted his head back out of the trunk, the spare tire in his hands.

Abby froze the tape and turned to look at Sarah in pure unadulterated fury.

Before she could utter a word, Gibbs beat her to it as he asked her with full blown fury of his own. "That look innocent to you?"

Sarah broke down, tears sliding down her face as she cried. "I had no idea he was capable of this."

"You'd better hope your brother's alright." Tony warned menacingly, despite the young woman's distress, his anger immune to her reaction. "But you can bet your boots, he's not gonna be forgiving you anytime soon. This goon's had him for close to 9 hours now!"

Sarah's tears fell harder and her shoulders shook from the force of her sobs, but no one was feeling her pain right now; they were; however, feeling for the pain her brother was most likely experiencing.

"Tell me exactly what you said to your father when you called him after you and Tim fought this morning!" Gibbs demanded with galvanized steel in his tone.

"How…?" she asked sputtered as she wiped at her tears and tried to pull herself together under his blatant anger.

"Doesn't matter how I know. Answer the question!"

Taking a deep breath, Sarah wiped at her face and struggled to pull her thoughts together and recall the conversation she'd had with her father just that morning.

_**Flashback**_

"_Daddy? " Sarah cried into the phone as she sat huddled in on herself on her bed. _

"_Sarah, honey, what's wrong."_

_Crying almost hysterically, she could barely get two words out at a time. "Tim…checked…Ed…..said…couldn't….see…hm….more…"_

"_What? You're telling me your brother ran a background check on your boyfriend and now he's trying tell you that you can't see him anymore?"_

"_yes." Sarah cried. "Daddy! We…. He….I….oh, Daddy, we had a bad fight and…"_

"_Sshh, Princess,. Relax. It'll be alright. I'll take care of it. That good for nothing brother of yours needs to be taken down a peg."_

"_Daddy..." She sniffled._

"_Don't say anything else to your brother about it. He had no right to interfere like that. I'll set him straight. You haven't done anything wrong, Princess."_

"_Daddy?"_

"_Yeah, what is it?"_

"_Daddy, I told him…..I said…horrible things…to him…."_

"_Doesn't matter, Princess. Whatever you said to him, I'm sure he deserved it."_

"_But, Daddy…."_

"_Now, sweetheart, don't you worry about anything. I''ll take care of it. Just remember, I love you."_

"_Thanks, Daddy. I love you too."_

_**End Flashback**_

"HEY!" Gibbs barked to Sarah out of her memories she seemed lost in. "We're waiting! What. Did. You. Tell. Him?"

Sarah blinked and looked down at her feet as she opened her mouth and told him what he wanted to know. "That Tim checked into Ed's background and told me I couldn't see him any more."

"That's it?" Gibbs demanded

"I told him that Tim and I had a fight and that I said some horrible things to him." Sarah admitted as tears once again trekked down her face at the reminder of the horrible words she'd said to her big brother.

"We're not done with this conversation." Gibbs warned her as he turned his attention back to Abby's computer screen. "What else can you tell us, Abbs?"

* * *

Ducky had silently withdrawn from the lab; feeling the overwhelming anger that had been oozing from the Team members. He knew they were too angry and worried to listen to reason and he didn't want to try to wade through the thick of it, at least until some of it had been calmed with time and more information that would help them locate Tim.

As he rode the elevator down to his domain, the M.E. breathed deeply and slowly let it out, quietly offering a prayer for Tim's safe return. He couldn't help be worry about the young man's state of mind when he did come back. If his sister's ties to her brother's ordeal were as secure as Jethro believed them to be; then Timothy would most definitely not be in a very good place in his head. Being the sensitive soul that they all knew him to be; this would in all likelihood; devastate him; especially given the dedication and fortitude he'd put into his role as Sarah's big brother and staunchest defender. Ducky could only hope and pray that this was all a horrible mistake.

* * *

The noise of the bubbling stream pulled him back from the darkness. nearby rousing him to the reality that he was waking up in a park, his phone in his hands, where they lay on his stomach. Every inch of his body hurt like he'd gone more rounds in the boxing ring and it was all he could do to raise the phone to his face so he could try to see what he was doing. Fighting to keep his eyes open against the painfully bright light of day after he'd been in that pitch black darkness for the last 8 hours or more, he couldn't muster up the strength to worry about where he was or what time it was or even how he'd gotten here or how long he'd been here. It was all he could do to think of making the one call he thought to make. Thankfully, his brain recalled his speed dial numbers, saving him a lot of effort on that end.

* * *

The silence in the lab fell with a sonic boom of anger and worry as Abby had nothing else to add to what they now knew about the guy who'd hurt and taken Tim.

"What else can you tell us, Sarah?" Gibbs demanded after just a minute of silence in the room. Time was wasting and Gibbs had no patience for it when one of his own was in trouble.

Sarah managed to stop crying and took a breath, trying to rein her own emotions. She was outnumbered here and out of her league. For all the crappy things Tim'd told her this team of people had done and said to him over the years, they obviously defended each other like lionesses with cubs. They weren't to be trifled with and now that she had, even accidentally, there was no turning back. Just as sure that they would tear her to pieces if she didn't talk; she feared what they'd do when she did.

"Times' wastin' Sarah! " Gibbs barked angrily.

"I'm sorry. I just needed a minute to clear my head." She offered apologetically.

Four pairs of eyes glittering with sharp anger stared back at her, waiting for her to give them information on her beloved Ed. This was killing her. _Ed wasn't dangerous and he wouldn't hurt a flea! He was her big teddy bear. He kept her safe and happy without any worries about anyone telling her what to and when to do it. They'd been together for six months now with nothing to spoil their romance. Damn it, why did she have to go and forget her phone at Tim's the other night? If only she hadn't done that, everything would be fine! None of this woulda happened in the first place!_

Sucking in a deep breath, Sarah breathed it out slowly in preparation for giving up what information she had on Ed. She needed to speak carefully, because nothing made sense now and her whole life had just been drastically altered and she knew it.

Before she could speak, Gibbs phone rang. In absolute irritation, he snapped it open and growled into it. "Yeah Gibbs!"

"_Boss?"_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: My apologies to Emi-Lynn - this in no way is intended to copy of your awesome story. Every effort was made to insure the differences were many._

* * *

"_Boss?"_

Gibbs snapped his fingers to the group and they instantly silenced themselves while the boss hit the speakerphone button on his phone.

McGee? Tim are you alright?" Gibbs asked urgently, while the remaining array of people present shushed and listened with their hearts in their throats.

"_Dunno."_

"McGee, where are you?"

"_Dunno 'xactly .. park…pl..grnd..maybe... " _The young man's voice was shaky at best_.  
_

Abby pounced on her computer, immediately bringing up Tim's phone signal and searching for its' location while Tony and Ziva watched her screen for the results.

"That's okay, Tim. Just stay on the line, alright? We're on our way, Son. I want you to keep talking. Talk to Tony while I get us to you, alright?" Gibbs handed Tony the phone while he dug out his keys, not willing to wait for the hassle of signing out an agency car.

"Go! I'll get you the exact location." Abby urged tearfully, happy that Tim was alive and reaching out to Gibbs for help.

Silence rained down over the phone line ominously, scaring the Team Leader even as the team scrambled for the elevator wordlessly.

"Probie?" Tony tried getting a response from Tim.

Again silence ruled the air for an endless moment before they heard what they needed to hear, even if he did sound scared and lost. _"Boss?"_

Taking the phone back, Gibbs handed the keys to Ziva and answered his missing agent at the same time.

"I'm here, Tim. Stay with me."

"_K."_

"Can you tell me anything about where you're at?"

"_Creek – close…" _

"Good, okay, what else?"

"_Kids …. Lots… noise"._

"That's good, Tim. What else?"

"_Tired. B…ss..So…ired, _

"MCGEE! " Gibbs barked in hopes of snapping his agent into awareness instead of sinking into the oblivion that was obviously lurking about him.

"_Boss?"_ Tim's alarmed answer drove a stake through Gibbs' heart.

"Gotta stay awake for me, Tim." Gibbs encouraged now speaking quietly.

"_K"_

As Sarah moved to go with them, relief and hope shinning in her eyes, Tony stepped up into her personal space to block her path and growled at her. "NO! You don't get to do this!" Turning to their lab rat, who'd come to the hallway to give them the exact coordinates of Tim's phone signal, he ordered sternly. "Abby will take you to the Director. He can babysit you while we go rescue _our_ friend."

As the elevator doors closed on the team, Sarah lost it. _Why did it feel, down deep in her soul that she'd just lost her big brother? Those hateful words she'd so carelessly thrown at him this morning would haunt her forever_. _Why the hell had this happened? Why had she gone crying to Daddy like she was five years old again? What the hell was wrong with her? _Feeling lost and alone and truly frightened of what the future held for her, as well as who she even was anymore, she stepped back to the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, soundlessly crying at the mess her life had become and even with relief that her brother had been heard from The call had been extremely worrisome. Tim was quiet; sure; but never that quiet unless he was seriously upset. _Surely, Ed wouldn't have done anything bad to him worse than knocking him out like he'd done? Why had he done that?_

* * *

Twenty long, agonizing minutes later, the team descended on Tim's location. The light of day was still bright, with a few hours to go before it would begin to get dark, for which they were grateful, as it made it easier to spot him. It was the quietest they'd ever been as they saw their long lost team member sprawled in the grass where he'd described himself to be. He'd been placed where no one would think twice about a guy resting by the stream. For all anyone would have ever known, he could have been sleeping or reading just as well as he could have been dead.

"Tim, we're here. You're safe now." Gibbs told him through the phone while still at the car. He didn't want to startle him.

"K" Tim's voice trembled as they watched him drop the phone when his arm plummeted to the ground as if he could no longer find the strength to hold it up. He was so still, he looked to be sleeping; or worse.

Closing his phone, Gibbs quietly gave his team their tasks. "Tony, Ziva, secure the scene. I wanna know how he got here. When you're done with that and you've given everything to Abby'; go get that bastard and bring him in!"

Looking at each of them, including Abby and Jimmy who'd arrived in short order with Ducky in the Agency sedan that Abby had wasted no time in securing while calling for Ducky to go with her; he issued another order. "No one breathes a word of Sarah's possible involvement to him! Not one word! Palmer stay with the vehicles, be prepared to get us whatever we need out of 'em and keep onlookers away. Abby we take this slow."

"I know, Gibbs." Abby answered sorrowfully.

"REAL slow." He pushed sternly.

Abby nodded as she nearly vibrated with anticipation and the need to see her best friend up close and personal and make sure was really alright. Slowly, the trio headed toward the prone young man, hoping he was really alright.

Tony and Ziva set about their tasks, worry still sitting heavy in their hearts.

Reaching Tim, Gibbs slowly crouched down near him, making sure to both keep some space between them and stay where Tim could fully see him as he softly spoke to him, not wanting to spook him or crowd him. "Tim."

Without opening his eyes into the too bright light of the long summer day, Tim whispered hopefully in return. "Boss? "

"Yeah, Tim. I'm here. You alright?" Gibbs kept his tone quiet and full of concern.

"I don't think so." Tim admitted with embarrassment.

"Ducky's here. Talk to us. We need to know if we need to take you to the hospital."

"NO! Don't make me go there, Boss, please." Tim replied with an edge to his voice, his eyes remaining shut tightly as he balked at the mere thought of being anywhere else he'd have no control over what was done to him.

"Okay, Tim. Let Ducky have a look, alright"

"K" Tim breathed out on a sigh of relief and was mortified to hear emotion in his own tone. He hated being vulnerable like this and his inability to hide the pain he was feeling on every level only served to make him feel worse. He raised his arm and let it fall over his eyes, his fingers almost reaching the ground by his ear, too embarrassed to look anyone in the eye now.

"Hello, Timothy. I must say it's certainly a relief to see you again. Can you tell me how you feel? Are you in any pain? " Ducky asked carefully and soothingly.

"Hey, Ducky. " Tim answered quietly.

"Are you in any pain?" Ducky asked again.

"I'm okay." Tim fibbed.

"McGee, don't make me head slap you. Where are you hurtin'?" Gibbs asked him with enough authority in his tone that Tim knew not to lie about it.

"Everywhere." Tim admitted reluctantly.

"Can you describe it?" Ducky asked with genuine concern.

"Does a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson tell you enough?" Tim tried to throw out some humor, hoping it would mask everything else he wasn't willing to get into or let out.

"Yes, my dear fellow. I'm afraid it does. However, you do not seem to be having any difficulty breathing. Am I to assume your ribs are the one place that is not causing you pain?" Ducky answered calmly, deliberately refraining from commenting on what he knew had to be emotional turmoil and distress going on underneath this unusual persona Timothy was exhibiting in the face of whatever he'd just been through.

"Yeah." was the only answer Tim could muster up.

"Alright. Since this is a public park, I will merely do a cursory glance for now. I'll do a more thorough examination when we get back to the Navy Yard." the M.E. compromised for the sake of Tim' dignity.

"K" Tim murmured almost in a whisper. "Boss?" he asked in a slightly worried tone a moment later.

"Yeah, Tim. I'm right here."

"K'

As Ducky used his hands to prod for possible broken bones, Tim sucked in a painful breath here and there, only letting each breath back out at Gibbs' prompting for him to "Breathe, Tim."

Finally, Ducky was convinced no bones had been broken, barely. "Timothy, can you sit up with some assistance?"

"I'm not sure. Haven't moved anything but my arms since I woke up here." Tim answered quietly.

"Alright, let's give it a try, shall we?"

"Boss?" Tim asked with yet another slice of worry lacing his tone.

"Yeah, Tim."

"No one else is here, right?" his tone spoke of his trust in Gibbs not to let him be seen like this.

"Whattaya mean?" Gibbs probed for exactly what it was Tim needed from him.

"I don't want Abby to see me like this. The others either. Please." Again, Tim's tone carried an edge to it, almost as if he were wrestling with himself for it not to betray how he was really feeling.

"McGee…" Gibbs tried to offer a valid reason why his expectation wasn't what they'd had in mind.

"Please, Boss!" Tim pushed with a jolt of steel.

Looking up at a now devastated Abby, Gibbs motioned for her to go on back to the car, knowing that, although she hated to do it, she'd do as Tim requested and leave him with his dignity intact.

"Yeah, Tim. It's just the three of us."

"K." Tim breathed out in relief. "Thank you."

* * *

"Timothy, I do wish you would allow us to take you to the Emergency room to be checked over." Ducky gently pushed from his seat in the passenger seat as Gibbs drove the three of them back to the Navy Yard, twenty stressful and exhausting minutes later. The trek to the car had been slow and arduous for the three of them, with Tim stoically biting back every moan, groan and cry of pain, as they plodded, step by painfully slow step, taking every care not to jostle him too much. Apparently, his ribs had begun to hurt him, as well as the other aches and pains and bruises he was already feeling. Neither Ducky or Gibbs had commented on Tim's refusal to voice his pain. They'd simply concentrated on getting him to the car.

"No. I'll be fine." Tim repeated his earlier refusal; this time, his voice barely audible as he strove to be heard through the waves of pain that getting up off the ground and to the car had set off.

"McGee, you probably have a concussion. That should be treated in the E.R." Gibbs pushed in his normal tone, realizing that Tim was trying like hell to keep things as normal as possible, despite this whole ordeal.

"Ducky's taken care of it for Tony before." Tim argued persistently.

"Timothy, you must open your eyes and look at me so that I can get a better look at how your vision is doing at the moment. As soon as we get you settled back at Autopsy where I can get a better look at you, we will take care of that. Then and only then shall I decide whether or not your current condition requires a trip to the emergency room." Ducky directed firmly while still keeping his voice down. If by then, you still are not experiencing nausea or any other severe symptom of a concussion; we won't push the issue. However, you must promise to abide by my instructions to the letter."

"K" Tim mumbled as he began to slip into an exhausted sleep.

"Timothy! You cannot go to sleep just yet!"

"Huh? Okay. Slept already. Don't know why …so tired now…" Tim mumbled sleepily.

"McGee. I know you're hurtin' but since we're playing it safe and need you to stay awake, why don't you go ahead and tell us what you remember about what happened ?" Gibbs encouraged.

"Will it….. can…. Stay….between…us…"Tim struggled to find the words that wouldn't flash what he was feeling or what he was trying desperately not to feel.

Up in the front seat, Ducky and Gibbs exchanged worried glances before the boss vowed to give his recovering agent what control of the situation he could. "Yeah, Tim. We promise. Whatever you tell us will stay just between us."

"K…."

* * *

"Tony, don't you think it's a bad sign that Tim didn't want to see the rest of us?" Abby asked glumly as she sat in the back seat with Jimmy. With Tony driving and Ziva riding shotgun, the car was full, of more than people. The air was thick with worry and anger over what had happened to Tim; and the who and why's of it all.

"Abby. We must remember this has to be extremely hard for McGee." Ziva offered. "he has always been the strong, silent type because of the need for that while on this team."

"Especially hard on him if he figured out who this bastard is and why he was doing it." Tony threw in angrily.

"Uhm, Guys. I know we're all angry about what's been done. But, I think it's important to remember that Tim will pick up on our feelings real quick. So maybe we need to work on getting them out or under control or something?" Jimmy suggested hesitantly.

"The Autopsy Gremlin's right." Tony admitted . "We do need to put all this away; concentrate on finding this bastard and putting him away. As for it being a bad sign, Abby. I'd rather not borrow trouble. It might just be as Ziva said. "

* * *

Another pain filled walk, as the three men carefully made their way from the evidence garage to Autopsy back on the Navy Yard and Tim was nearing the end of his endurance. It was clear that he was more than ready to pass out. Wordlessly, Gibbs took off his windbreaker and folded it and then set it down on the table furthest away from the hissing doors and beckoned Tim to get up on the table. As Ducky and Gibbs helped him ease himself up onto the table, they couldn't miss the pinched look of pain on his face or the pallor of his skin.

"Timothy, as soon as I've finished checking you over for further injuries, you may go ahead and sleep for a spell, alright? Your vision appears to be within normal limit and I see no symptoms of a concussion serious enough to cause undo concern, although I do still want to keep an eye on you for the next 24 hours or so, just to be cautious."

"K" Tim answered quietly as he went to work unbuttoning his shirt, now that he'd submitted to having his eyeballs lit up and probed, with a positive pronouncement as an end result.

Gibbs watched from a few feet behind Ducky, unwilling to crowd Tim or leave him until he'd seen exactly what had and hadn't been done to him. With one eye on Ducky's exam, the boss kept his other eye on his agent's demeanor and reactions to what was going on. It soon became apparent that being touched by Ducky caused Tim to flinch, but thankfully, that was the extent of his reaction. There was no cowering or pulling away. However, there was also no eye contact.

In fact, Tim McGee had never found the floor so fascinating in all his life. Gibbs frowned. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. Still, the boss knew he had to wait; let things work themselves out a little more if he was going to get any more answers out of his agent. The real answers he could get from the bastard who'd done this to this peaceful young man.

"Alright, Timothy. All I need to do now is to check for any signs that you were..." Ducky approached the painful elephant in the room, jostling Gibbs' attention back to his agent and the M.E.

"NO, No, I wasn't, Ducky. Can I just go to sleep now, please? Tim answered in a rush.

Exchanging worried glances with Gibbs, Ducky patted Tim on the arm and nodded. "Certainly. dear boy. Jethro has even provided you with a pillow. I meant what I said earlier, though. I will be checking on you periodically to insure you are not beginning to show signs of suffering any delayed neurological impairment."

"Thanks, Ducky." Tim put his shirt back on, thanking his lucky stars that the M.E. hadn't asked him to remove his trousers, and laid himself out on the table. Vaguely remembering telling himself long ago that he would never sleep on one of these tables like he'd heard Gibbs was prone to do; Tim promptly fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

While Tim was finally allowed to sleep, his mentors watched guardedly from across the room. Ducky gave a summation of his findings regarding the young man's injuries to the Team Leader cum surrogate father.

"Jethro, he was beaten repeatedly, badly enough to cause as much pain as possible without breaking any bones. They counted on Timothy's unwillingness to garner any attention to himself and made sure he would not need any emergency medical care. This was a message, not attempted murder. We must also realize that the fact that Timothy told us nothing about his attacker, may very well mean he did not see him."

"Doesn't make me feel any better, Duck; especially when we know who's responsible. Matter of fact – that only makes it harder – on McGee."

"I quite agree. Being kidnapped, tied up and beaten by an assailant who does not show their face is much more degrading and emotionally impacting than if they were to have had no compunction about revealing their identity to him. It is fortunate for Timothy that you already know who it was that did this to him. But, Sarah McGee did not ask this to be done to her brother. Surely you know that, Jethro." Ducky reminded his friend quietly.

"Ducky. She defended that bastard I'm not gonna let her off the hook that damn easy!" The Team Leader fumed before he stepped back over to look his agent over one last time; needing to see physical proof once more, that Tim was, indeed, alive and with them.

"Timothy needs his rest. Why don't you go on and do what you must to help him begin put this painful chapter of his life behind him, hmm?" the M.E. suggested calmly as he turned off the overhead lights in the room and walked up to stand next to Gibbs, watching the rate of Tim's breathing while he was there.

"Yeah." Gibbs responded on a sigh of frustration and resignation as his eyes remained glued to Tim where he slept. "Call me the minute he wakes up." he requested as he turned to leave.

Tim's eyes flew open, silently looking around, as if searching desperately for something, seemingly caught up in a moment of panic. _What the hell happened?_ _Why is it so dark in here? Oh, God! Not again!_

With his breathing becoming erratic and his heart pounding madly to the point where it felt like it was going to explode out of his chest, Tim wanted to scream out just to be heard, unwilling to be caught up in this nightmare again.

Before he could utter a sound, a soothing voice sounding in his ear. "Calm down, Tim. You're alright. You're not back there anymore." A calming hand was clamping down on his shoulder; "Ducky's gonna stay right here with you over there at his desk. I have to go make sure DiNozzo's actually doin' some work, alright?"

Gibbs had seen the flicker of Tim's eyes as they opened and searched everywhere he could see, even before the young man's breathing had changed, heralding the onset of genuine panic.

The boss hadn't missed the blatant flash of fear that flickered through those normally shining green orbs. Calmly but quickly he'd reassured the young man.

"K. Thanks, Boss." Tim whispered now as he lost the battle to keep his eyes open; sleep working to reclaim him as quickly as it had let him go for that brief moment.

Silently, the two older men watched as sleep began to drag the young man under once more. As they turned to leave him in peace, he surprised them "dn…lv…me... lne...dark…" he whispered as he finally slipped into genuine slumber.

"You're not alone, Tim. I promise." Gibbs told his agent quietly, hoping somehow Tim could have heard him, knowing he wouldn't have. For a long silent moment longer, he watched him settle into the sleep he so desperately needed.

Exchanging looks of concern with his older friend, he watched as the M.E. turned one overhead light back on, further away from the sleeping agent, yet still leaving him no more room to fear that he might be back where he'd been when he'd been missing. There was no doubt now, Tim was definitely keeping the majority of what he'd been through, locked away.

"Whatever he endured while being held captive today that he's chosen not to let us in on, obviously has affected him profoundly. He will tell us when he's ready, Jethro." The M.E. offered as he turned back toward the Team Leader, seeming to read his mind.

"Maybe." Gibbs replied as he turned and headed out, suddenly needing to be doing something that would, as Ducky stated earlier, close this chapter for Tim and possibly help him put it behind him that much sooner.

Heading back up to the Director's office, Gibbs breathed out a sigh of relief at having his agent back safely and with no serious physical harm done that they could see. Yeah, that was the key phrase. _Was Tim completely aware of everything that had been done to him? What else had he gone thought that he was hiding from them? Was he right that he hadn't been violated worse than the beatings he'd been given?_ That relief was soon replaced by rising anger over what the young man had just been through, the possibility that he had been more seriously hurt than they knew, as well as the reason behind this whole sordid mess in the first place.

Consequently, by the time he'd reached the outer office of the Director's domain, that anger had risen to full-blooded , white hot fury. Unwilling to have any long drawn out discussion with either the Director or Sarah McGee, he gave Vance's assistant a message instead. "Tell him that we got McGee back. But, he's to be left alone by everyone, except my team!"

"Yes, Sir." Pam answered quietly. "I'm glad you got him back, Agent Gibbs."

"Yeah. Me too." He answered quietly as he turned on his heel and went back out, needing a fresh refill on coffee and calmness, not to mention patience.

* * *

"Ducky, how' McGee?" Tony asked over the phone as he dropped Abby and Jimmy back at the building after stopping off for a bite to eat before their return to work.

"_Sleeping at the moment, Anthony. And not to be disturbed. Please alert Mr. Palmer that he is not to come down here. Advise him to find some way to be of use to your team for the remainder of the day."_

"Uh, Ok. Actually, he's on his way down to help Abby process what little we found. Ziva and I are headed out to get Pike. Let us know if he needs us, huh?"

"_Yes, Anthony, I will. But, do be ready to accept that Timothy may very well not want any undue attention to this matter or heaped upon himself. Whatever is normal is most likely what he will be searching for to help him come away from this without undue damage."_

"I know. We'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Ducky" Tony ended the call and relayed what the M.E. had said to Ziva, knowing Ducky would call Jimmy himself.

* * *

Six thirty that night had come and gone and with it went the team's hope that this would be an easy case to put to bed. Edward Pike had apparently crawled back underneath whatever rock he'd slithered out from because there was no trace of him anywhere. Sarah's cell phone records had even been probed with a fine tooth comb and her cell phone confiscated in hope of catching any pattern of locations to look for this guy, with no luck. Having reached the end of his patience with the whole ordeal, Gibbs angrily stalked back to the interrogation room he'd left Sarah McGee in a short time ago after reclaiming her from Vance and sat down in the chair opposite her. Setting her own cell phone down between them, he bit out an order.

"Call him! On speaker, now. Get him to meet you somewhere without tipping him off. Not one word to him about your brother. You haven't seen him or talked to him or anyone else about him since you had a fight with him this morning!"

Having lost all fight after being allowed to see for herself, up close and personal while he was sleeping under the watchful eye of the M.E. just how much of a beating her brother had taken, Sarah numbly nodded and did as she'd been told. Her mind was still trying to wrap itself around the damage done to her brother; the pained cries that had come from him as he slept fitfully, and the fact that her beloved Edward had done this to him.

With the phone on speaker, the ringing was the only sound now heard in the interrogation room until the call was picked up on the fourth ring.

"_Hey, Sarah. What's going on? I haven't heard from you all day."_ The deep voice sounded sickeningly chipper.

"Hey, Honey. I've been wrapped up with school and class preparation and I even threw in a little quiet reading. I knew you were gonna be busy. We talked about not calling each other until the end of the day, remember? Are we still on for dinner at 7 'cause I've been looking forward to it all day and I'm really hungry." Sarah gave back quite seriously while keeping her eyes on Gibbs'.

"_Yeah, sure. I'll be there. Listen, don't be late, alright?"_

"I won't. You say that all the time and I've never been late yet." Sarah's tone remained unchanged.

"_I know. See you at 7, Babe."_

Once the call had been disconnected, Sarah sat back in her chair with a sigh of sorrow and frustration.

"Let's go." Gibbs directed as he got up and headed for the door

Fifteen minutes later found the MCRT minus Tim McGee set up and waiting for their man. Expecting the guy to be on the lookout, they made double sure to disguise themselves and blend into the crowd already in the establishment, more than just passably. They wanted no slip-ups.

Another fifteen minutes later, their caution paid off and Edward Pike was in custody, with three extra vigilant Federal Agents escorting him back to the Navy Yard to be interrogated on charges for the abduction of another Agent. The beating he'd given Tim was of secondary concern; although none of them planned on letting it go unpunished. Their primary concern was in making sure the charges for Tim's kidnapping stuck.

A fourth agent, borrowed from another team, was assigned to stay with Sarah and escort her back to NCIS but had been instructed not to let her arrival be seen by their suspect. Once safely in the building, Sarah was safely escorted back to Director Vance's office and left her there as ordered by Vance, himself.

* * *

"**Stop! No! Don't! **_**won't forget! **_**"** The cries bounced off the walls in Autopsy, resounding in stereo in Tim's own ears, pulling him out of the dark, abruptly. Bolting upright on the autopsy table, Tim almost fell off the side and only Ducky reaching him in time and grabbing hold of him, kept him from doing so.

"Easy, Timothy. You're all right dear by. Calm yourself." The M.E. urged as Jimmy looked on from the doorway to Ducky's office.

With a nod of his head in the direction of his inner office, Ducky silently ordered Jimmy to leave Tim in the M.E.'s capable hands. Jimmy nodded and did as he was told, realizing that the field agent didn't need to be stripped of his dignity by having witnesses to his continuing ordeal.

As his ragged breathing settled back down, His mind ran the gambit, despite having Ducky there, watching without crowding him, ready to help him if he should need it. Suddenly, Tim had to get some air; had to move his limbs, no matter how bad they hurt when he did. He was stiff and sore and beginning to feel too closed in. With shaking limbs that felt like spaghetti, Tim got down off the table; hanging onto the edges of it with all of his weakened strength, and left Autopsy, silently, steadily, not stopping until the elevator took him away from it; to his home away from home; where he'd be safe.

Ducky watched him leave. The older man knew that Tim needed the space to breathe and think for himself without anyone hovering over him. He knew that Timothy would not leave the Navy Yard and so felt no compulsion to be his shadow. He would, however, inform the young man's Team Leader of this new development. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he turned it over and over in his hand for a moment, trying to piece together what he would say that would not alarm Gibbs further. The poor man had enough on his mind with this already. Blowing out a sign of resigned frustration, the M.E. hit the button he needed to make the call.

* * *

Wordlessly, the three MCRT members rode the elevator up to the squad room so Edward could be escorted to the interrogation room. As the elevator stopped on their floor of the squad room and announced itself with its' trademark ding, opening its' doors as it did so, Gibbs' phone rang. As they stepped off the elevator and began to walk toward the back hallway that housed the interrogation rooms , the boss answered the call.

"Yeah. Gibbs."

"_Jethro, Timothy has presumably__ just__ returned to his desk since he awoke shortly after you left and could not find the peace of mind to attempt to sleep any longer. Since we were not able to get anything from him in regard to the man that did this to him, we can not be sure what he knows of him or as I said earlier, even if he even revealed himself to Timothy. Do make sure you don't force him to confront that man when you return. In fact, I would not recommend you even allow Timothy to have to even lay eyes on him." _Ducky warned sternly_._

"Too late, Duck." Gibbs responded sadly as he snapped his phone shut and roughly jerked the man responsible for putting his agent through hell, more firmly toward Tony and Ziva, knowing they wouldn't let him step any closer to their teammate, although the bastard already had his eyes locked onto Tim.

"Get him outta here!" Gibbs growled with reinforced anger vibrating off of him, even as his eyes remained glued to Tim's reaction

"On it, Boss." Tony answered in his most serious tone, not liking the look in his Probie's eyes even from all the way across the room at his desk. Turning to their suspect, he growled. "Don't even say a word."

Pike smiled even though his eyes were snapping with anger. Remarkably, he kept his mouth shut all the way to the interrogation room. Setting two agents on guard outside the door, Tony and Ziva headed back to the squad room Before they'd gotten ten feet from the interrogation room they'd left Pike in, Tony's phone rang. "DiNozzo."

"_Stay with him. Both of you . I want this bastard kept uncomfortable."_

"On it, Boss." Tony answered as he snapped his phone shut and turned back to the room. "C'mon, looks like we're on intimidation duty." He quipped as he led the way back into the room, letting the other agents go as he did.

* * *

The Team Leader snapped his phone shut after quietly giving Tony the order. After his agents had left the squad room with their guilty man, Gibbs's left Tim alone as the young man had worked to stow away his reaction to the man who'd kidnapped him and beaten him. Knowing Tim was still in physical pain along with whatever was running through that head of his, left Gibbs with no desire to engage him in any conversation that could even possibly make this more painful for his man.

Gibbs, walked back to his desk and sat down, watching with pride as Tim seemed to mentally shrug off the incident and turn his attention to his computer, once again diving into work, even if it was cleaning out his emails from not being here all day. Intent on leaving Tim as much dignity and control as he could afford to give him, the boss silently returned his own attention to work, anticipating his agents' ability to unnerve Pike before too much longer. The Team Leader was looking forward to wiping the floor with this bastard and so he was willing to bide his time; almost like waiting for a fresh apple to ripen before picking it. As for Sarah McGee and her father; well, he'd tackle that problem later. Right now, Vance was welcome to deal with it.

Tim kept his nose buried in his emails, his periphial vision on Gibbs, and his thoughts buried under the blanket of numb emptiness that had found space up there to wrap itself around that which needed rescuing. He could get through this. He'd been through worse. Hadn't he?

* * *

Looking at his watch, some thirty minutes later, Gibbs cracked a feral smile as he stood up and headed out of the squad room. _Time to pick the fruit_

Left alone in the squad room, Tim's mask crumbled, quickly and completely. Suddenly, he couldn't stop shaking and his mind couldn't close the seemingly permanent screen showing those eyes, glaring menacingly at him. Suddenly needing a drink; something he'd long been denied throughout his ordeal today; Tim lifted the bottle of water Ducky'd given him as he left Autopsy earlier, to his mouth, but found his hands were shaking so badly, he couldn't take the drink.

Remembering hearing the ding of the elevator and looking up from his desk just in time to see those eyes find his own and lock on with the now unmistakable predatory gleam of fury, sent literal shivers of apprehension and fear up and down Tim's spine. Suddenly, he couldn't stay in his chair any longer. The need to escape was prevalent. Bolting for the nearest stairwell, Tim made it so far as the landing just inside the door, before his physical body refused to go any further. Allowing the wall to support him as he moved; he slid down so that he was now sitting on the concrete floor.

Pulling his knees up to his chest, he wrapped his arms around his knees and bowed his head. Eyes closed in search of a sliver of peace, Tim couldn't even stay still long enough to find it. No sooner had he closed his eyes, than those of his kidnapper and tormentor reappeared in his mind; clearly and menacingly. There was no escape. Eyes now glued wide open, all the pieces fell into place, one by one,

_You go back on your word and I'll hunt your sorry ass down and this time when I get my hands on ya, I'll just kill ya_

_You will not tell a soul about our little adventure today__**  
**__  
Someone you know._

Ya know, if' you'd just learn to stay out of people's lives and stop trying to tell them what to do, you wouldn't be in this mess!

Stop trying to ruin my life!

_****__  
Someone you know._

I never wanna see you again!

Ya know, if' you'd just learn to stay out of people's lives

You're still my responsibility! You always will be. It's my job to keep you safe!

_Someone you know._

I _**never wanna see you again!  
**_  
stop trying to tell them what to do_  
_

_**Stop trying to ruin my life**_

_Someone you know."_

_I'll hunt your sorry ass down and this time when I get my hands on ya, I'll just kill ya_

_**I never wanna see you again!**  
__  
someone you know_

_SARAH!_

As the vivid recollection of it all played out in his mind, the pieces fell into place, creating the ugliest picture of reality he could have ever imagined as the reason as well as the person behind it all became clear, the betrayal and pain stabbing him in his heart so deep, he felt it to the depths of his soul; the sobs came and the tears flowed


	7. Chapter 7

Pike smiled at the two way mirror, even as Gibbs finally made his appearance. Oddly enough, the only time he was smiling is when he looked at the two-way glass on the wall opposite where he was sitting. He never said a word; to Tony or to Ziva. But the minute Gibbs walked in, he had something to say, although his eyes never left the glass. "Your Agent enjoying the show?"

"What show would that be?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"What, you gonna play dumb cop with me, now?" Pike asked snidely. "Watching me being interrogated."

"Has anyone asked you any questions?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"No."

"Hmm. Have you spoken to anyone since you've been in this room?"

"Nope."

"Doesn't sound like an interrogation to me."

"And your 'agent'?"

"Which agent would that be? Gibbs asked casually.

"Don't play dumb with me, cop! You know damn well I'm talkin' about that punk McGee!"

"AGENT McGee has better things to do with his time than watch the likes of you." Gibbs told him with a smirk; completely ignoring Pike's venomous tone and insults towards Tim.

Pike became angry yet again,almost instantly, his face getting red and his hands clenching into fists on the table.

"That bother you?" Gibbs asked in faux surprise.

Pike deliberately pulled his emotions back in check. Clearing his throat, he stared back at Gibbs. "No." he offered with an obvious show of false nonchalance

Gibbs wasn't fooled but he wasn't about to play with Tim's life here either. There'd been enough conversation about Tim from this guy. It was time to move things along and hopefully get a confession. Standing up, he walked over to the glass and issued an order, completely ignoring Tony and Ziva as they stood in opposite corners on either side of the mirror. "Play it"

The surviellence tape showing Pike watching Tim and then sneaking up on him and striking him played out in full color detail. When the tape showed Pike beating Tim with his fists and kicking him repeatedly, Tony and Ziva both became obviously angry and had to fight hard to hold still and not wipe the floor with this bastard. They hadn't gotten to that portion of the tape earlier when they were watching it down in Abby's lab. Gibbs refused to watch the tape; the father within him too angry and heart broken for his surrogate son; but he did watch Pike's reaction.

The satisfaction and pleasure fought for space in the man's expression. Before he could stop himself, the guilty man was chortling with enjoyment from seeing his handiwork from this side of the camera. "Yeah, I got him good, didn't I? "

"Why?" Ziva asked before Gibbs or Tony could stop her.

"WHY? You wanna know WHY I beat the crap outta that scrawny geek that calls himself a Federal Agent? Because I could! Because he thinks he can control my life and I had to show him just how wrong he really was. That's WHY!" Pike snarled angrily, his eyes flashing with the intensity of his hatred.

"He doesn't even know you!" Tony spat out angrily.

"Hey." Gibbs said quietly, knowing it would do the trick and calm both of his agents down.

As Tony and Ziva settled down, Pike shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn't know what power this guy had that had these two pissed off agents obeying him without him even having to say more than one word, but it was making him nervous.

"Is there a problem?" Gibbs asked him calmly.

"Uhm, no."

"Did you beat him again after you kidnapped him?"

"Are you kidding? He was out so long I made sure I got a few more punches in and even a couple of more kicks when I got him to my place, just to make sure he wasn't gonna come out of it too soon.. Wouldn't have been so easy to tie him down if I hadn't." Pike declared as if he had every right in the world to have taken such action against Tim.

"Wait! You tied him down? Tied him down to what?" Tony demanded angrily.

"To the table. Where else would I have tied him?" Pike answered as if the answer should have been common knowledge and completely logical. "You think I would let him stay free so he could hit me back? C'mon, you must think I'm stupid or somethin'. Yeah, I..."

"Enough." The order came from the doorway, where Vance now stood, one hand on the door handle and other braced on the frame of the door none of them had even heard opening, anger nearly dripping off of him. The Director gestured for Gibbs to step out and waited while the Team Leader got up from the table, silently told his agents to stay on guard with this goon and stepped toward the door. Vance stepped back out of the room and waited for Gibbs to do the same.

""You got a problem with this interrogation, Leon?" Gibbs demanded quietly as soon as the door closed between them and the occupants of the room.

"No, Gibbs. I don't. In fact, I'm actually shocked at how mildly you're handling this guy after what he did to your agent. "Vance answered calmly.

"Then why stop it?" The Team Leader demanded angrily.

"McGee." The Director answered with an unusually short response that was riddled with something Gibbs couldn't quite put his finger on.

"What about him?" Gibbs asked .

"He's disappeared. Won't answer his phone and he's not with Ms Scuito or Dr. Mallard."

"What aren't you telling me, Leon?" Gibbs demanded on a sigh of frustration for having left Tim to his own defenses after the events of the day.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Gibbs, but that young man is barely holding it together."

"He's got the right to some dignity, Leon. I'm not gonna take that away from him by coddling him."

"No, Gibbs, but I don't think him drowning in fear of this man." Leon gestured in the direction of the room Pike was in; "Is what you wanted for him either."

"What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about, Gibbs. Is that as soon as you left your desk, McGee thought he was alone and he dropped the act. You agent was shaking so bad he couldn't even hold his water bottle up enough to drink it. Everytime he closes his eyes for a second, they pop right back open with fear jumping out. I'm sure his sister's involvement isn't helping. Let this interrogation go. I'll take it from here. You got his confession. You and your team go take care of your agent. I don't wanna seem him within 200 yards of this guy. He shouldn't have to lay eyes on him again.

"He won't."

Vance's words rang through Gibbs' mind as he headed back to the squad room, Tony suddenly on his heels. "Start looking for McGee. Where's Ziva?"

"She didn't wanna leave Vance alone with that heavyweight." He's not exactly cuffed to anything."

"Hmm. Go find him. Call me when's he's been found."

"On it, Boss." Tony answered as he headed off to parts unseen in the building.

The Senior Field Agent searched what must have been every nook and cranny of the building and came up empty. _How was that possible? Had McGee left the building? _Here it was an entire hour later and still no sign of Tim McGee to be found. Flipping his phone open, Tony sighed in resigned irritation as he made the call he didn't want to make.

"_Yeah. Gibbs."_

"No sign of him, Boss. I can't find McGee anywhere."

"_Already found him, DiNozzo."_

"You did? Well, where the hell is he?"

"_Right in front of me."_

"Well, that's great, Boss, but that doesn't…" Tony huffed to a stop as he realized he'd been hung up on. "tell me where he is…" he finished lamely as he headed back to the squad room.

Fuming under his breath as he walked, the names of the rooms and areas of the building he'd checked fell from his lips in a checklist of sorts. The list was still ongoing when he reached the squad room to find Ziva standing up at her desk. She approached him as he reached his own desk.

"Have you started talking to yourself, Tony?" she asked mischeviously.

"What? Oh, no. I was going over every place I've looked for McHide and Seek, trying to figure out why I didn't find him but Gibbs has.

Ziva smiled at him like she would a small child, choosing to ignore the name he'd just invented for Tim. "Tony. You did not check every area of the building."

"What? Yes, Zee-vah . I did!"

"Really? Then how is it that McGee has been in the employee gym for the past 90 minutes and you did not know this?"

"Uh! The gym! " Tony bolted out of the squad room, only to stop and spin around and stalk back to Ziva. "Just how the hell do you know this?"

"Simple, Tony. Gibbs received a phone call from one of the employees who saw McGee just sitting there and became concerned." She answered calmly as she finally went back to her own desk.

Following her to her desk, Tony asked her. "Why were they concerned? Was he flippin' out or something?"

"No. He was simply staring at the sparring matches, for a very, very long time."

"Wonder why."

"He is probably trying to figure out how he could have fought better against his abductor. At the very least, I would say, he is trying to learn from what he is watching so that he is better prepared should it ever happen again."

"It won't." Tony snarled before heading back out of the squad room, determined to make sure his probie was okay. 

* * *

Putting his phone away in his pocket, Gibbs felt a wave of relief wash through him on Tim's account for the 2nd time that day. When he'd gotten the call a couple of minutes ago reporting that Tim had been in the employee gym since the time Gibbs'd left the squad room, the relief had been instant. Even now, talking to Tony, he'd had to be cryptic and typically smart-alec to keep his relief from baring itself to the world. The Team Leader's eyes had not moved from looking his youngest agent over even as he conversed shortly with his Senior Field Agent.

Now, he found the time had come for him to do something. He wasn't' sure what to do for the young man but he did know that Tim couldn't stay here any longer. Casually walking over to the bench and sitting down next to him, he took a chance that he wouldn't be spooking him and spoke to him.

"McGee."

Tim's mind snapped back into gear with a bang as the boss' voice reached through the fog and grabbed his attention. Still numb from the culmination of everything that had befallen him already during the course of the day, he couldn't even think to be worried. "Boss?"

"What are you doin' here, McGee?"

"Watching."

"Kinda hard to do that when you're zoned out, don'tcha think?" Gibbs kept his voice normal since he wasn't angry and didn't want to bend too far in the direction of coddling either.

"Yeah. " was the only thing Tim managed to come back with. Suddenly, the numbness was gone; both the physical and mental doses of it, and both levels of pain returned in full force. As the pain marched across his features and even into his eyes, Tim found he could no longer look anywhere but his own feet, too filled with every emotion possible at what he'd just been through, and the realization of why it had happened in the first place, to be able to sort through it all.

Gibbs watched Tim's demeanor change almost instantly as the physical pain caught up with the young man's return to the here and now in obvious signs and Tim's eyes filled with the emotions he couldn't or wouldn't voice almost at the same time. It was time for this kid to catch a break and get some rest and a chance to regain his mental equilibrium. "C'mon, we're done here for today. Time to go home." The boss directed.

Tim closed his eyes as the instant rush of fear washed through him like a tidal wave. He couldn't leave here. He couldn't be seen with any of them or someone would get hurt by that creep. That wasn't a chance Tim was willing to take; with any of their lives. In fact, he shouldn't even be anywhere near any of them. This guy obviously had an inside track into Tim's life and meant business.

_Why the hell else would he have been here earlier? Wait! Was he still here? Oh, God. I can't be seen by him again, he'll go after one of the team for sure_. As the questions and fears ran through his mind like an out of control train, Tim was unaware that his breathing had become panicked and that he'd nearly fallen off the bench, rescued by Gibbs' quick reflexes as he snagged his arm and pulled him back and in fact, hadn't let go of him yet.

"McGee? All right?"

"Yeah." Tim answered so quietly Gibbs almost missed it. "Where's…?"

"In custody. C'mon, let's get you outta here."

"Can't be seen…" Tim whispered under his breath.

Gibbs anger shot through the roof at the thought of his agent being so traumatised that he was actually afraid of being seen by the bastard who'd just torn his world apart. Being careful not to let his anger out on the man who needed it the least, he quietly reassured him.

"McGee. I give you my word, he's in lock-up already. Fornell's got him."

Tim nodded silently as he trudged along next to his boss as they returned to the squad room. Once there, they found the rest of the team waiting for them. Tony had changed his mind about intruding on whatever time Gibbs needed to help Tim overcome whatever had sent him to the gym, a place Tim rarely visited and never when he hadn't been ordered to.

Now, seeing the spark gone from his partner's eyes, Tony felt rage; at the situation, at the bastard who had perpetrated such brutality on his friend, and even on his friend's sister and father for their attitudes and behaviors towards his probie. Sarah's accusations earlier in the day about his behavior towards Tim, hadn't helped, but Tony was determined to put that aside for the moment and do whatever Tim needed him to do to get through this.

As Tony stood up to walk over to his teammate, Gibbs shook his head. Tim didn't need to be crowded right now. This was understandable, but Tony still wanted to help; to be able to step up and be the big brother.

Gibbs let Tim take a seat behind his desk and walked over to his Senior Field Agent. Quietly, he stepped up to him and asked. "The sister?" After everything they'd found out, he was left too angry to address her with anything better than that.

"Still with Vance." Tony replied quietly.

"Good. You and Ziva sit on her. I'm taking McGee home with me. Do not tell her where he is and do not let her make any phone calls. In fact, I want her phone confiscated and turned off until we meet back here in the morning!"

"On it, Boss." Tony vowed, grateful that Gibbs wasn't letting this go or letting Tim go home alone."

"Go on, give Pam a call up in the Director's Office and let her know the plan and get moving. Have Ziva call Abby and give her a heads up so she's not left out of the loop. All of you go home and get some sleep. Oh, and let shortstuff know that if she even thinks about taking off from you or Ziva, she'll have me to answer to – after the two of you get through with her."

Tony nodded and left the squad room, heading up to the director's office, pulling his phone out as he walked. The boss turned back to his youngest agent's desk and looked him over. The kid looked like he was ready to drop from pain and exhaustion. It was no wonder, after the day he'd had.

Pulling out his own cell phone, Gibbs made a short call. "We're leaving now."

"_Jethro, I presume you'll be taking Timothy home with you?"_ Ducky answered. "_Call me if you should need me for anything. And make sure he eats as well as sleeps."_

"Will do, Duck."


	8. Chapter 8

The ride to the boss' house was a silent one. Tim had nothing to say, too much was going through his brain; the fact that his sister's boyfriend had not only been the bad news character he'd warned her that he was; but that he'd stooped to kidnapping and beating her brother just because he obviously witnessed their fight earlier that morning, was too much of a 'Twilight Zone' reality to be real. Tim knew that Sarah had most likely called home to cry on their father's shoulder right after she'd walked away from him this morning too, knowing her the way he did; which meant he was in deep shit with his father, now as well.

While that was nothing new for him, the reality of that was just more than he needed to deal with on top of everything else. Mentally blinking, he deliberately forced his brain to shift gears to the here and now and the safety of his team and his family, no matter what they'd done. This goon meant business and Tim wasn't taking any chances with their lives, although with the team, it was pretty much a given that they'd be better able to protect themselves against him than Tim had been. Unless this bastard went after Abby, Jimmy or, God forbid, Ducky. Tim shuddered with the fear of that possibility.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked with genuine worry as he saw the shudder run through Tim. It had been impossible to miss even though the kid had been stone cold silent for a while now**.**

"Yeah," Tim answered quietly.

No other answer would be good enough. Strong and silent was the name of the game on this team and that's the way Tim wanted it to be with this too. He didn't need to be seen as the weak link, even if he was just that. He needed a plan to live under the radar of this goon until everything was over. Somehow, the guy being in FBI custody wasn't good enough of a safety net for Tim to feel safe or comfortably resting on his laurels. "Boss, can we make a couple of stops, please?"

"Sure. Whatta ya need?"

"Just need to stop at an atm and then the closest store, nothing out of the way." Tim requested quietly, his voice barely audible.

"Okay." Gibbs answered as he tried to fathom what his agent with a computer brain was configuring and planning.

He knew Tim's requests weren't just trivial and it was that reason that he had no problem with doing as he was asking. Gibbs was worried about the state of distraction his agent seemed to be in and because of that, accompanied him into the store after they'd stopped at the atm machine nearby. Watching Tim purchase a burn phone, a gym bag, toiletries and several changes of clothes from the drug store they'd stopped at raised Gibbs' alarm but still he kept quiet. He'd talk to Tim about this when they got to the house.

To Tim's credit, the young man stoically set about doing what he obviously felt he needed to do in the store, never letting his eyes meet those of the man who could read him like a book. His silence and lack of explanation carried on, and as they got back out to the car and headed to Gibbs' house, the boss couldn't help but continue to wonder what the hell was going on in his agent's mind. Once inside the house, Tim made a beeline for the shower after asking Gibbs where it was, leaving the boss time alone to think while he tried to whip up something for them to eat for dinner.

Firing up his indoor grill, a.k.a. his fireplace, he quickly set about grilling some steaks for them. He realized with a twinge in his gut, that while he'd done this for Tony countless times, this was the first time he'd ever done it for Tim. In fact, this was the first time the kid had ever been here without it being case related for the Agency. Judging by the emergency purchases earlier, Tim was feeling the need to hide out and wasn't planning on going back to his apartment anytime soon, The fact that the young man he thought of as one of his boys, was feeling like this hit Gibbs like a stake through the heart**.**

Soft padding footsteps sounded behind him, causing Gibbs to turn from his thoughts and look away from the fireplace to see Tim walk by the doorway on his way to stowing his gym bag by the front door. Hearing the lock of the front door click into place startled the boss, but only for a moment as he refused to take that necessary need to feel secure away from the young man. A mere moment later, Tim walked back by the room and disappeared.

When he hadn't returned some ten minutes later, Gibbs stood up and decided to go and find him. His first port of call was the guest bedroom and bathroom, thinking Tim had simply retreated to leave Gibbs to his normal solitude. When he saw no sign of his missing agent in those rooms, he headed back to the kitchen so he could grab a fresh cup of coffee before he faced his Agent and hopefully get him to open up. There weren't too many other places he could have gone, so, hopefully, finding him would be easy.

When he stepped foot in the kitchen, he paused at the sight of his basement door. He knew that he'd left it closed when he'd gotten the steaks out of the fridge a bit ago, so the fact that it was now ajar gave him cause to think. With a sigh, he walked over and gently eased the door open so that he could go down to see if that's where Tim had disappeared to like he expected he had.

Sure enough, Tim was sitting almost out of sight in the far corner of his basement. Gibbs took in the way the young man sat there on the cold concrete floor with his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees and his head resting on top of them. The normally resilient young man, at this very moment, exuded complete misery, betrayal, confusion and fear wrapped up in sheer terror, along with the still present physical pain. Seeing one of his boys like this damn near broke Gibbs heart completely.

Only one reason for him to have this look on him and that was because he'd figured out his little sister, whom they all knew, he'd have done anything for, had betrayed him after telling him something as hateful as she had. Gibbs knew now that Tim knew what he hadn't wanted anyone to have to tell him. But, the fear he was seeing in those eyes wasn't because of Sarah. The boss' gut was screaming that Tim was scared of something more sinister. The bastard who'd done this had to have threatened him somehow. It was the only thing that made sense.

Seeming to sense he was no longer alone, Tim looked up and shook his head slightly as he noticed Gibbs at the edge of his field of vision, standing there not saying a word. With a sigh, the younger man wiped his face on his sweatshirt sleeve and straightened up so that he was sitting straight against the wall and stretched his legs out in front of him. The soreness that he felt from the beatings he'd taken earlier in the day let itself be known once more and he realized that it hadn't simply gone away like he'd hoped. He'd hoped the hot shower would help with that , but it was obvious that the relief had been temporary and his muscles were starting to protest again. He took a silent minute to let the acute soreness subside and waited for it to dull down enough to leave only residual traces of itself through the areas that had been mistreated. Tim slid a half-smile into place before finally sparing his boss a glance.

"You know who he is." Gibbs quietly reasoned out.

"Yeah." The young man answered so quietly, Gibbs almost didn't hear it.

"What'd he say to you, McGee?"

Tim offered him yet another tight smile and stood up stiffly. In a split second, his mask was back in place as he changed the subject quickly.

"I need some coffee, you need a refill?" The younger agent said as he brushed the sawdust off his pants and headed toward the stairs leaving Gibbs standing there still wondering just what the hell was going on. Wordlessly, Tim trekked back up the stairs leaving Gibbs no choice but to follow, hoping against all hope, that his agent would open up to him at some point in time.

* * *

Ziva, Abby, Jimmy and Tony sat around Ducky's dining room table as their surrogate uncle served them dinner, at his request. Sarah McGee sat on his left, with Ziva sitting beside her as a buffer between the troubled young woman and Abby who hadn't stopped wanting to hurt her for what she'd orchestrated against her brother. Ducky'd made the request for them to join him for dinner as they had been in the squad room together a short hour ago. They'd been reluctant to drag him into having to deal with Sarah McGee and the mess she'd brought down on them, but the M.E. had insisted it was what was best for all concerned, even Timothy.

When Tony had thought to argue, Ducky had stepped up to him and quietly reminded him that Timothy's father may very well be on his way to the middle of this mess to 'rescue his princess', if his earlier phone call was anything to go by and that problem was not one they needed to deal with without proper support.

"It is better that we remain in numbers until this is all resolved, Tony." Ziva had seconded quietly. "Sarah will not be able to get by with anything or try to disappear from the lot of us."

"I know. I just don't want you or Jimmy or Abby drawn into this, Ducky." Tony had told him seriously.

"That is why this is the best idea for this evening, Anthony." Ducky had insisted.

"Alright. I know this bastard's already behind bars, but we're still stayin' alert! All of us, got it? We still don't know if he was acting alone."

Tony's order had been the end of the discussion since Director Vance was coming down the stairs with Sarah McGee at that point. In short order and with little discussion, they'd all trouped out together and drove to Ducky's with Ziva driving Sarah while Tony drove Abby and Ducky. Jimmy had begged off, stating he would be safely ensconced in his apartment studying for his classes. He promised not to duck his protection detail or go anywhere else for the night. Satisfied, Tony and Ziva had agreed with Ducky that it was safe for Jimmy to go.

The remainder of the evening was full of nerve wracking tension, no matter how much Ducky tried to break the ice between the team and the guilty woman who'd yet to find herself back in their good graces. Sarah, for her own part, kept to herself, barely ate her dinner and retreated to her assigned sleeping quarters as soon as dinner was over. She had no intention of spending any more time around Tim's teammates than necessary, at least until they remembered what she'd said to them earlier; all of them had treated her brother disgracefully at least once and really had no room to judge her. An early night of sleep suited her just fine. Besides, she really did have a lot to think about.

* * *

Although Gibbs was wide awake at the crack of dawn, it was more from long-standing habit than from being rested. As he made his way to the kitchen and poured his first cup of coffee, he still felt the remnants of a near sleepless night; having spent the normally restful hours, calming the troubled young man still sleeping on his couch; as his nightmares rolled through. After jumping up out of a near sleep state the 3rd time, the Team Leader had given up trying to sleep in his own bed; mentally admitted defeat and simply got as comfortable as he could in the easy chair near the couch in his living room, while keeping watch. It had been a long night.

Even now; with a large cup of his favorite coffee nestled between his hands while he stood on the back porch looking out over the railing; his ears remained trained on the young man still sleeping on the couch in the room behind him; listening through the open French doors for any signs of his stirring or having more troubled dreams.

* * *

Returning to consciousness, the atypical feel to the surface he felt underneath him, as well as the unusual lighting hitting his eyes from windows on places in the walls that he didn't have in his own apartment, helped remind Tim that he wasn't at home in his apartment. The countless aches and pains he felt as soon as he moved any part of his body, sharply reminded him why.

As flashes of what yesterday had been for him; and the recalled promise of worse things to come for him and for those close to him if he didn't do as that bastard ordered; played through his mind in vivid color; his own vulnerability and inability put a stop to it all; felt like yet another physical punch to the gut; coming on top of the beatings he was still feeling the effects from, from yesterday. All in all; it left Tim feeling completely beaten down and worthless. _A Liability!_

With a rush of determination he didn't realize he possessed, he slammed the lid down on the emotional overload that threatened to swallow him whole, and deliberately forced himself to refocus; this time on the things he needed to do to minimize casualties in this craziness as well as put a stop to it. _Maybe with the guy already caught and behind bars, the worst was over._

_Just because the guy's locked up, doesn't mean this is over! Don't let your guard down, Tim!" _His inner voice was screaming at him as if he couldn't be heard loud enough. As Tim ran through everything he could think of to do that would keep everyone away from this maniac, that voice reminded him of the one thing he hadn't done that he'd been told to do in order to avoid himself or anyone else being this guy's target. Sharply reminded now, that he'd left something undone yesterday, he bolted upright in fear as panic began to march on in behind it. He gasped for air as the reality of what he probably had set in motion settled in the pit of his now upset stomach.

"McGee! What is it?" Gibbs demanded sharply as he hurried in from the porch upon hearing Tim's sudden fight for air.

The boss' snapped out question broke the hold on Tim's panic, allowing him to work toward getting his breathing under control. As he sucked in more air for his struggling lungs, he forced himself to calm down until after a few minutes, he was finally breathing normally again. Even as calm returned to him, the ability to look his boss in the eye or talk to him about any of this madness did not. Closing his eyes, he continued to take cleansing breaths and let them out slowly, as if preparing himself for something bigger than himself.

"McGee, look at me!" Gibbs demanded with a touch of anger.

Tim silently looked at the boss with abject apology for the space of a few heartbeats and then silently got up from the couch, disappearing down the hall with only the sound of the guest bathroom door closing explaining where he'd gone to.

Frustrated and angry, Gibbs took himself to the kitchen for more coffee and to serve up breakfast for them so they could get to work on time. _The stubborn kid might not be coerced into talking about what was going on his head; but he was damn well gonna eat a decent meal! _Gibbs had to admit that he and McGee had never had an easy time of it; trying to communicate outside of work related issues. _Well, hell! Who was he kidding; the two of them had never talked about anything but case work! Yeah, and whose fault is that?_

The questions coming from his own inner voice did little to put the Team Leader in any better of a mood; but they did bring into focus, the fact that Tim wasn't to blame for the mood Gibbs was in. And while being rather careless of who he took his bad mood out on, was the normal way the ornery former Marine operated; this time, he just couldn't bring himself to operate that way. With everything the young man was already going through and still needed to deal with, the last thing he needed was the boss taking anything out on him. If he couldn't or wouldn't talk about it; he had to have a damn good reason. Gibbs wished like hell that Tim would let him in. He hated to see the kid try to deal with all of this alone.

Breakfast was no different than the brief standoff between them earlier had been. The tension filled air between them was now more quiet than even Gibbs had thought possible. And considering how much the boss appreciated peace and quiet, that was saying quite a lot! When Tim had come downstairs earlier, some fifteen minutes after leaving Gibbs in the living room, he'd been on the tail end of a phone conversation and had snapped his phone shut, pocketed the phone and silently given him that small apologetic smile of his that didn't reach his eyes, but that had been it.

Gibbs reluctantly resolved to let Tim handle this in his own way; but was at least able to find some relief in the fact that the young man ate a decent meal without a fight. With the day he'd had just yesterday, the boss hadn't put a whole lot of hope into the kid having a decent appetite, but had been happily proven wrong on that score.

Riding into work was yet another exercise in silent tension. As they passed through the Navy Yard Front Gate, Gibbs had had enough. The silence he could handle any day of the week. It was the tension that had to go. "Relax, McGee. I get that you don't wanna talk about it."

Surprisingly, Tim seemed to want to argue the point; but stopped short of allowing himself to do so.

"You decide you 're ready to talk about it, you know where to find me." Gibbs offered almost offhandedly, hoping to move things along.

Once again, the small smile was offered, this time a small nod of the head accompanied it; just enough of a non-verbal response for the boss to not only understand it but also relate to it. Somehow, the air seemed to clear between them, allowing the rest of the ride in to be an experience in things settling back down to normal between them.

By the time they'd reached the squad room, things had returned to normal between them, albeit silently. With coffees in hand for Tony and Ziva as well as themselves, they both got settled in behind their desks and got started on their day. The peace and quiet continued to rein and both of them relished it.

Tony and Ziva's joint arrival heralded the official start of the workday and the typical end to the peaceful silence they'd walked into. Soon the room was filled with the normal sounds of the daily banter and grind of the day. All of yesterday seemed to have been put behind them. Even Tony and Ziva's mention of it had been brief and had come only in the form of the question as to how Tim was doing.

Tim's response had been equally as brief but sincere enough that no one questioned him further. As soon as he said he was fine and he thanked them for their concern; the day moved forward. No one looked back. Normalcy had returned to the team. Twenty minutes later, chaos returned.

The peace and quiet of the team of four perusing cold cases was shattered by the ringing of not one desk phone, but two.

"Yeah, Gibbs." The boss said into the phone as he stood from his chair, needing to stretch his legs.

"_Jethro, have you seen or spoken to Abigail this morning?"_

"No, Duck. I haven't. I take it you haven't either?"

"_No, I have not. I have even spoken with the main gate. I'm told she has not come in as of yet. I thought perhaps you had spoken to her and knew of her not coming in?"_

"Nope. You ask Vance about it?"

"_Yes, She has not spoken with him either. He was unaware she had not arrived until I informed him of such. Jethro…."_

"Yeah, Duck, I'm on it. Let me know if you hear from her."

"_Absolutely. I hope she's all right."_

"We'll find her, Duck. " Gibbs hung his phone up and snatched his coffee cup off his desk as he spoke. "McGee track Abby's cell , Ziva, you and Tony gear up! Go check her apartment. Find her! She's not here, she hasn't called and she's not answering her phone."

"Ah, Boss?" Tony said nervously as he set his own desk phone back down on its' cradle.

Gibbs glared at him as he waited for Tony to get to the point.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but…"

"But, what DiNozzo?" the boss asked impatiently.

"Pike is out."


	9. Chapter 9

"_Pike is out." _

The Senior Field Agent's announcement was full of anger mixed with concern.

Tim's face lost all color and his knees nearly buckled. It was all he could do to remain upright as his heart pounded in his chest and his brain screamed at him.

_You idiot! This is YOUR fault! You screwed up! Abby's missing while Pike is free. _  
T_he guy threatened to hurt you again AND anyone close to you if you didn't do all three things he told you to do!  
He's free! And Abby's missing!._ _  
Told you not to let your guard down!_ _  
You don't believe in coincidences anymore than Gibbs does!  
You __**know**__ he's got her!  
You idiot! He knows you still had the dog as late as this morning and now he's following through on his threat!  
You're so stupid!  
You really think he's gonna care that you took care of that little oversight on your part this morning before you faced Gibbs over breakfast?  
It's too late! He has Abby!_

"How the hell did that happen?" Gibbs barked as he glared at Tony as if it was his fault. So far, he hadn't even noticed Tim's reaction or the fact that Ziva was watching Tim from behind her desk with grave concern.

"We screwed the pooch, Gibbs." Vance answered calmly as he strolled into the squad room from the back hallway and stopped right in front of the Team Leader's desk so he could face him as they spoke.

"Meaning what exactly, Leon?"

"None of you read him his rights."

"He wasn't under arrest when you took over the interrogation, Leon! Did **you **read him his rights?" Gibbs snapped with anger barely controlled.

"Thought your team already had." Vance defended his own oversight that set the bastard free.

"So he is free on bail?" Ziva asked with disappointment and confusion, her eyes still locked on Tim as he continued to struggle to take it all in. At least now, he'd allowed himself to sit down.

Tony shifted on his feet in obvious discomfort at the question.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked.

"Um, not exactly, Boss."

"Then what exactly?"

"All charges have been dropped. He's a free man." Vance dropped the bomb on them calmly with no clue or vision of the horrified reaction from the agent sitting directly behind him.

Tim'd always been an ace at math and this equation was easy to solve; the answer being trouble for one of their own; this time the victim was even more innocent than the last one had been. _Abby!_

He felt like he was literally gonna be sick. Unbeknown to him, he looked it, as well. Across the room, Ziva quietly picked up her phone and made a call, speaking quietly into her phone, while keeping her eyes on her troubled teammate across the room. Even as the rest of the room's occupants' attention was focused on each other in anger and disbelief at the unfortunate turn of events, Ziva's focus remained on Tim.

When Ziva ended her call and hung up her phone, she looked over at her boss, feeling his angry glare emenating from him. Having his silently smouldering temper focused on her in the form of his patented glare as his eyes attempted to burn holes through her for making a phone call in the midst of this new development,only gave her cause to small softly. She was more than relieved that Gibbs was rising to the occasion over Tim's case; but was also more than ready to defend her actions just now.

Before the boss could even say a word, she nodded her head in Tim's direction, behind Vance which Gibbs could not see at the moment. It was only at that point that the rest of them even thought to look Tim's way. Silently, ripping himself a new one, Gibbs watched in concern as Tim practically ran from the squad room, looking as though his sensitive stomach had revolted on him.

Tim felt so incredibly guilty and worried and sick. He couldn't get the visions out of his head of the sickening picture his mind had conjured up when the horrible equation of everything that was going on adding up. _Oh, God! Abby!_

"What the hell's going on here, Gibbs?" Vance demanded angrily as he watched the youngest agent in the room bolt for the head, his voice thundering through the squad room.

Silently, Gibbs glared at Vance for a half-minute before locking eyes with his Senior Field Agent and nodding in the direction of the elevator in a silent directive. _Go find Abby!_

_On it, Boss!_ Tony's silent nod and quick steps in the direction of the elevator; along with Ziva's equally fast catching up to Tony, assured the boss, that his two remaining agents were on the job and would find out what had happened to their missing Forensic Scientist and team member.

Only after his team had vacated the squad room, did Gibbs turn and address the boss' question. "Still trying to figure that out, Leon. When we know, you'll know. Hey, Duck. You lookin' for McGee? He's in the head. Let me know something after you've looked him over, will ya?" Gibbs's shift in conversational direction as he looked at the freshly arriving Medical Examiner threw Vance for a loop; and essentially ended the discussion.

Silently watching the M.E. make his way to the men's restroom; and Gibbs snatching up his coffee cup and looking at him expectantly, Vance let it go; for now.

With a deep sigh borne of frustration, Gibbs went in search of more coffee before intending on going to check on his troubled agent. There was obviously something going on that the boss needed to know about. _And where the hell was Sarah McGee? Hadn't he told Tony to sit on her?_

Snapping his phone open, he speed dialed Tony.

"_Hey, Boss."_ Tony's subdued answer didn't bode well for the search for Abby turning out well just yet.

"Where is Sarah McGee?"

"_Vance has her stewing in Conference Room 2. He put an agent on the door."_ Tony replied calmly; too calmly.

"Any sign of Abby yet?" Gibbs ploughed on, unwilling to focus on anyone's emotions until Abby was found safe and sound.

"_No. We've just pulled up to her apartment complex. Her Roadster's not here."_

"Check the apartment anyway."

"_On it, Boss."_

Suddenly craving some answers, Gibbs changed his mind about checking on Tim just yet since the M.E. was with him and was undoubtedly better equipped to deal with whatever it was Tim was dealing with at the moment; choosing instead, to go have a word with the youngest McGee sibling. Marching up to the conference room, the team leader hoped and prayed that Abby not being reachable had nothing to do with this whole McGee nightmare. As he stepped into the conference room, it was to find Sarah McGee writing a letter of some sort, on the tablet of paper someone had given her.

As he pulled out a chair next to the head of the table where she sat, Sarah stopped writing and let go of the pen, her eyes slipping to his for a half-second before dropping to the table in front of her.

"Where is Pike?" Gibbs asked her without wasting any time or explaining the question further.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him since you made me set him up the other night." She answered with just enough attitude to send Gibbs' anger through the roof.

"You listen to me! I don't give a damn if you date him or not. I don't give a damn if you have his kids! But, you'd damn well better help us find him before he hurts Abby! "

"Abby? What? NO! He wouldn't!"

"Like he wouldn't do what he did to your brother?" Gibbs bit out furiously. "Tell me where to find him, NOW!"

"I can't." she answered quietly.

"Not good enough!" Gibbs slammed his hand down on the table, the sound echoing loudly in the room, causing her to jump.

"I can't tell you because I don't know!" she cried defensively.

"How can you not know? Weren't you the one who was going on about how the last six months have been perfect between the two of you? How do you spend six months getting to know someone without being able to give an idea of where he might be?" her brother's boss asked in complete disbelief.

Before she could answer him, her cell phone rang.

"Who gave you back your cell phone?" Gibbs demanded angrily.

"Director Vance did. He said he had no choice now that all charges have been dropped." Opening her phone, she spoke into it. "Hello?"

"_Call him and tell him to let Abby go! Tell him he can have me instead!"_ Tim's voice barked at her angrily through the phone.

"Tim?" Sarah asked in shock, both at the fact that her brother was finally speaking to her again and at what he was saying.

**"_I mean it! Call him right now and tell him to let her go UNHARMED! Make him take me instead!"_** Tim completely pissed off tone again reached loud and clear through the phone to the point that even Gibbs was hearing every word.

"Tim, He doesn't have her! I swear!"

"_I'm not arguing with you, Sarah! Do it or else!"_

"_**Or else what, you no good sorry excuse for a son!" **_a loud booming voice was heard on Tim's end.

Suddenly the call was ended and Gibbs was on his feet heading toward the door. "Don't you move! And find out where that bastard is!" he demanded angrily as he bolted from the room. Snapping out his phone, he called Ducky. "Duck! Where's McGee?"

"_He returned to his desk, Jethro. Why, is something the matter?"_

"Yeah, you could say that. Get up here, will ya?'

"_Certainly, just as soon as I finish speaking with Director Vance."_

"Bring him with ya, quick." Gibbs ordered urgently as he ran down the stairs, ignoring the pain in his long troublesome knee as he did.

"Dad…" Tim was attempting to calm his father's irate temper.

"I don't wanna hear your pathetic excuses! Just tell me where I can find your sister so I can take her away from your meddling!"

"That's not gonna happen." Gibbs entered into the conversation as he rounded Tony's desk and came to stand in front of Tim's father, deliberately taking the man's attention of his agent.

"And why the hell not? She's my daughter, she doesn't even work for you, Agent Gibbs! You may wanna let this poor excuse of a man hide out on your team; but no one has the right to do anything to my daughter without my say-so."

"That right? When's her birthdate?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"What?"

"How old is your sister, Tim?"

"22, Boss."

"Yeah, I thought so. She meets the law's requirement to be of age in every way that allows her to make her own decisions, _Sir_." Gibbs reasoned out as he glared at the Senior McGee, making sure the form of address came out just as he intended it to.

"Doesn't matter. She does what I tell her to do. When she needs to get away from this punk's interference, she comes to me." The Naval Commander said with the cocky arrogance he'd long used on everyone he spoke to.

"Yeah, I got that." Gibbs answered dryly. "I don't have time for this family soap opera, Commander. So, I suggest you take yourself to your hotel room and wait for Sarah to call you when she has a free minute. Right now, she's busy."

"Wait! What? What the hell is she doing that she can't come with me or even speak to me?"

"That doesn't concern you. I give you my word that she will call you as soon as she's able."

"Commander McGee, I'd like a word with you, please." Vance's voice came as a surprise from behind Mr. McGee.

Turning, Mr. McGee looked from Gibbs to his son to the man who had just asked to talk to him. "And who the hell would you be?" he bellowed.

"DAD!" Tim hollered. "Director Vance, I am so sorry!" he turned completely chagrined eyes to the Agency Head.

"Quite alright Agent McGee. Can't hold you responsible for the actions of others. Commander? This way, please?" Vance stepped back and motioned for Tim's father to head up the stairs ahead of him.

Watching his father go up the stairs with the Director, sent Tim's stomach to his feet. But, his focus quickly returned to the urgent problem at hand. _Abby!_ Snapping his cell phone back open, he hit the number for his sister's phone again.

Before the call could even finish going through, the phone was snatched from his hand and snapped closed.

"Sit down!" Gibbs barked at him as he tossed Tim's cell phone to Ducky so Tim wouldn't use it again.

"Jethro?" the M.E. spoke up as he caught the phone and finally spoke now that the dust had settled on that explosive moment between Commander McGee and Director Vance.

"Just a sec, Duck." Gibbs answered as he kept his angrily glittering glare glued to his shocked agent. "What the hell do you think you're doin' tellin' your sister to offer that bastard a trade; you for Abby? Have you lost your mind?"

"Oh, Timothy!" Ducky sympathized.

"Maybe I have, Boss. All I know is I can't just sit here while he has Abby!" Tim defended his actions.

"This morning, I told you I wasn't gonna force you to talk about this. But as of right now, you no longer have that choice, McGee. Start talking! What do you know about Abby's disappearance?"

"That's just it, Boss! I haven't had that choice to begin with! I was doing what he told me to do – just to keep everyone safe from him! I was keeping my mouth shut! I only told you and Ducky what I could without going against that! He promised to hurt; kill even; someone close to me if I said anything!"

"So you played along with him and kept your mouth shut. Doesn't explain why Abby's missing or why you think he's got her." Gibbs' tone was still angry even if it had come down in volume.

"Because he's free. And because I screwed up." Tim said dejectedly. His guilt and self-appointed blame covering him like a thick blanket.

"McGee!" Gibbs' patience was running out.

"Boss, he told me to get rid of Jethro by the end of the day yesterday and with everything that was going on, I completely forgot! I got the arrangements made first thing this morning after I remembered. But, it was too late, obviously." Tim hollered out in distress.

'"Let me get this straight. You think that because Abby's unaccounted for and Pike is free; he took her as punishment for you not getting rid of your dog like he told you to?" Gibbs asked with disbelief.

"I don't believe in coincidence any more than you do, Boss." Tim said quietly, his eyes misting over. Turning away in guilt and the feeling that he was gonna be physically sick again, Tim looked at Ducky. "I'm okay, Ducky, thank you." He said quietly as he sat back down and reached toward his desk phone. "Boss, please! Let me do this!"

"You thought he had her before you even knew he was free." Gibbs accused him.

"I know he's not working alone. He can't be. Not if he's got eyes everywhere, watching what I'm doing all the time; who I talk to; where I go." Tim vented in anger. "Boss! You have to let me do this!"

_"Have to let you do what, Timmy?"_


	10. Chapter 10

_"Do what, Timmy?"_

Abby's worried voice reached them from the open space between Tony and Ziva's desks. Ziva and Tony stood silently behind her, willing to let her take whatever heat was coming her way.

"Abby!" Tim breathed out in abject relieve so great, it took his breath away.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Ducky exclaimed as he hurried to Abby's side. "Abigail are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm really sorry, I took some sinus medicine last night and it really wiped me out. I didn't even hear my alarm clock or my phone. Tony and Ziva had to pick the lock on my apartment door and wake me up."

"And your car?" Gibbs asked with barely controlled anger at the hell she'd just put them through while she was peacefully sleeping.

"Oh, I loaned it to one of the Sisters. I love driving the hearse." Abby answered almost offhandedly.

"Abigail." Ducky said as a warning that she was being too flippant.

"What? What's going on? What'd I miss?"

Tim stood up from his chair angrily, sending the chair crashing into the wall behind his desk and walked out of the squad room without another word. He was overwhelmed and angry and the last thing he needed was to say something wrong that he wouldn't be able to take back.

Gibbs stomped down on his own anger; too relieved that Abby was safe and not as Tim had feared, being held captive by that bastard boyfriend of Sarah's to do anything but walk over to his lab rat and embrace her, infusing her with his relief even as he bent his head down to whisper in her ear: "Never be unreachable, Abbs. Don't ever let this happen again."

After kissing her on the temple, Gibbs stepped back and headed out of the squad room, motioning Tony to walk with him and Ziva to stay with Abby. As they walked to the stairs that headed up to the Director's Office and continued on, climbing them side by side as they talked, Gibbs quietly issuing Tony an order as they reached the top step and parted company. While the Senior Field Agent headed down the hall toward a certain Conference Room; the Team Leader headed toward the Director's Office; in need of a certain conversation before he did anything else, now that his Forensic Scientist was in fact, safe and here at work.

"Ok. What the hell happened around here this morning?" Abby exclaimed angrily. She'd never seen her Timmy so strangely upset one minute; relieved the next and then back to boiling angry again, before. And she'd never seen Gibbs so relieved to see her before either.

"Abigail, calm yourself. Come, we shall save that conversation for a relaxing cup of tea down in my office, hmm?"

With a smile, Ziva took one arm that Ducky had extended in invitation while Abby took the other and together, the trio headed toward the back elevator, completely forgetting the one member of the team who'd been so deeply scared and angry just moments ago.

* * *

Gibbs barged into the Director's Office, letting the door handle snap back around as he let go of it; the door given enough force as it was pushed back toward closing that it very nearly slammed.

"Gibbs, do you mind?" Vance bit out testily as he looked up from his conversation with Tim's father.

"What I mind, Director, is anyone talking to their kid like he's trash, like we just heard downstairs! What I really mind, Mr. McGee, is someone who disgraces the uniform by treating people with the disrespect you showed my agent down there." Gibbs declared venomously angry.

"He's my son, Agent Gibbs! I'll damn well talk to him how I see fit!" Commander McGee yelled.

"He is a Federal Agent working in this Federal Office Building and you will treat him with the respect that title is due, Sir. That's not a request." Gibbs snapped back.

"So first, he hides out all day because he's too much of a wuss to mann up to his own arrogance and now he's hiding behind the badge and gun someone lets him play with?" the commander scoffed. "Thought you said he was missing, Agent Gibbs? Didn't I tell you he was just messing around? I don't understand why he still has a job; the nit-wit slacker!"

"Agent McGee was missing for over 7 hours yesterday. The circumstances of his abduction and later release are part of an ongoing investigation and are not open for discussion." Vance stated calmly and clearly in a tone that showed the senior McGee that it was no laughing matter.

"Then why am I here?" the irate navy man demanded.

"Agent Gibbs has already covered that both downstairs in his squad room a few moments ago and here just now." Vance replied calmly.

"Let me get this straight. I'm supposed to abide by two half-baked Federal Agents because they happen to be my son's superiors?"

"Yes."  
"Is he?"

"Is he what?"

"Is Tim your son? Or is he just your lap dog you use to protect your daughter when she needs to be protected from her own unwise choices and kicked around when she or you gets tired of his looking out for her?" Gibbs asked with the deadly calm that spoke of just how seriously pissed he really was.

"Agent Gibbs, I will not be…"

"What you will not_ be,_ is talking to either Tim or your daughter today."

Nodding at Vance in a silent message that he was done dressing down the man who'd completely disrespected his agent, Gibbs turned and left without even looking back; the door once again, closing firmly enough that it was almost a slam.

* * *

Returning from the head, Tim watched as Ducky, Ziva and Abby got on the elevator and headed down to Autopsy. Knowing Gibbs was probably with Tony chasing down some lead, Tim was able to breathe a little easier. He didn't know how to feel or what to think, now. His gut was still screaming at him that this wasn't over, even if Abby hadn't been in that maniac's clutches. He knew that his sister was safe. _Oh, no! Was she? Where the hell was she? No, wait, the idiot was doing what he felt was right for Sarah, he wouldn't turn around and hurt her. Wherever she was, she was okay, of that he felt sure_.

The only other person he would have had to worry about, had she still been alive, was his mother. Tim couldn't ever remember a moment before, in all the years she'd been gone, that he was more thankful of her no longer being available to be targeted on his behalf, than he felt right now. Expelling a breath of frustration and anger, he plopped himself down in his chair and deliberately got busy going through his emails.

It wasn't long before the official reminder popped up, of his mandatory shrink session before he was even cleared to work. _Damn it!_ He closed up his computer and headed to the Agency Psychologist's office. _This day just keeps getting better and better._

* * *

"Just who the hell does he think he is talking to me like that?" Commander McGee demanded as he glared angrily at Vance as the slamming of the door upon Gibbs' departure still reverberated through the room.

"He thinks he is, exactly who he is; Commander; someone who hates to see children mistreated; even by their own parents and no matter how old the children are. Like Agent Gibbs; I hate it, too. And just like he does, I hate it worse when the offending parent hides behind a uniform; especially one of the United States military." Vance pressed on point blank without even batting an eye.

Touching a button on his desk phone, he asked his assistant to have an escort come to show Commander McGee back down to Security. Surprisingly enough, Pam knocked on his door in less than a minute. As he bid her entrance, she ushered a silent Tony and Ziva into his office, causing him to raise his eyebrows in question.

"Lemme guess, Gibbs?" he asked Pam dryly.

She smiled, "Yes, Sir."

Vance turned to the agents and had to bite back a smile at the looks on their faces; guaranteeing a very unpleasant escort from the premises for the Senior McGee. Still, he had to make sure they understood the boundries they were to abide by; wanting no cause for anything to come back on them or their teammate or even the agency.

"Agents DiNozzo and Da'vid. Kindly escort Commander McGee back down to Security. And be sure to extend to him our utmost curteousy, hmm? We wouldn't want him to think badly of us, now, would we?"

Tony glared at the director for a half-second, until his brain kicked online and got the message behind Vance's words. "Understood, Director." Was the only reply he allowed himself to offer while he exchanged knowing glances with Ziva. Yeah, she got the message, too.

"Shall we go, Sir?" Ziva asked politely even while refusing to address him with his military title. She couldn't find it within her heart to bestow that much respect on the man who disrespected his own son the way he had.

Apparently, Tony felt the same way, since he hadn't addressed him as such, either and didn't appear to be in any hurry to do so. As the Commander huffed out a breath indignantly, he silently followed his escort, unwilling to stand here and battle this out any further. There were other ways to reach his agenda. Trying to do it this way was becoming messy and downright unpleasant. _How dare these ingrates defend that worthless boy!_

The trip down to the front entrance where he needed to sign out was completed in silence full of anger and resentment. One back outside, the completely ticked off Commander pulled out his phone and made a phone call.

"_Hello?"_

"We need to talk."

"_Sir?" _

"I don't know why you did what you did yesterday, but you'd better be prepared to do it again."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Thank You Shelbylou! Couldn't have done this one without you!_

* * *

_"I don't know why you did what you did yesterday, but you'd better be prepared to do it again."_

Tony walked back to the squad room more quietly than what came naturally to him. He and Ziva had safely escorted Tim's dad to Security and had even stayed while he walked out. Watching him immediately pull out his cell phone and make a call, had set Tony's hair on end. Something was going on and what it looked like made Tony sick to his stomach. He needed to talk to the boss. Now. But, he couldn't. He had to finish what Gibbs had already assigned him to do. No, he needed to do both. Whipping out his phone, he hit the speed dial number he needed.

"Boss, we've got a problem. Senior McGee couldn't wait to make a phone call as soon he cleared the building. Right. On it." Tony snapped his phone shut and continued on his way, still not saying a word; his brain still caught up in trying to process all this craziness that was Probie's world at the moment; Probie's world inter-twined with that of the team now. It was a never before seen look into what Tim dealt with privately and it floored the Senior Field Agent speechless.

Ziva left Tony to his thoughts. It was obvious the man was upset about the events of the day, especially on behalf of his teammate. It wasn't a case of Ziva not being upset herself; but rather, that the need she felt to take a mental step back and observe to regain a sense of objectivity. With all that had happened in the last 48 hours and everyone's heart being nearly shredded by what Tim had gone through and why; it was easy to lose that objectivity and cases were lost easily when that happened. It was bad enough that Pike was already a free man. They didn't need to mess this up any worse. Ziva knew that Tony had seen the Commander make that phone call the minute he'd stepped outside. She also knew that none of them believed in coincidence. This did not bode well for Tim. She hoped he could handle it without losing everything he'd built up within himself; his self-esteem; his pride in who he was, his appearance, his accomplishments and his inherent belief that people were good until they proved they were bad. All of it helped make Tim McGee who he was and Ziva was gonna watch and make sure no one took any of that away from him; well, as much as he'd let her, anyway. As they reached the squad room, Ziva was surprised to find Tony continue on towards the direction he'd come from when they'd met up to go to the Director's Office earlier.

* * *

Tim came back from talking to the Agency Shrink to find an empty squad room. Having no sign of his team or his father, he chose to take the time to sit and think. The talk with the shrink had helped, although Tim had revealed nothing. There was no way in hell he wanted any of what had or what had not happened when Pike had knocked him out and taken him, to go in any permanent record associated with him. That wasn't happening. The road to get where he was on this job had been hard enough; the last thing he needed to do was shoot himself in the foot over this. It was bad enough he might have already done that with the incident with Abby being unreachable to the point that he'd started to panic. Seeing the fury on the boss' face when he'd finally told him what he'd been keeping silent about, wasn't something he was looking forward to getting the fall out for.

But he'd meant what he'd told his sister. _Sarah. Yeah, that was another issue. No, Not gonna go there, Tim. Stop it! Get your head back in the game. Get back to work as if Gibbs was sitting here!_

Giving himself a small headshake, Tim did just that, signing back in to his workstation and diving back into the cold case on his desk. The arrival of the elevator distracted him though and he couldn't help but watch as Ziva came back to her desk, while Tony continued on up the stairs toward the director's office, neither of them speaking. As Ziva sat down behind her desk and began to get busy with her own work, Tim vaulted to his feet, strode over to her desk and asked her quietly.

"Ziva?"

"McGee?" she asked him without stopping what she was doing.

"Is everything okay?"

That snapped her attention; she looked at him in amazement. "After everything you have just been through and with all that is still going on, you are asking me if I am alright?" she asked in amazement.

"Yeah."

"McGee, Thank you. But, I am fine."

"That's good. Really, But, I meant with you and Tony. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, McGee. We are fine. We are both very angry at what Pike did to you and also at your father for the way he treated you while he was here. Tell me, does he treat that way often?"

"Thank you, Ziva, but I really wish everyone would just let it go." Tim replied quietly as he turned and walked back to his desk and sat back down. Turning his attention back to his computer, he failed to hear or see her approach as she walked up behind him a short two minutes later to speak to him quietly.

"McGee."

Startled into a serious fright, Tim leaped up from his chair, nearly toppling his desk in the process. "What? Oh, God, Ziva, I'm sorry!"

Seeing the shocked look on her face as she stepped back away from him, he felt a wave of humiliation wash over him. Unable to think of anything to say or do that would fix what he'd just done, he bolted from the squad room, slipping into the men's room and locking himself in the stall futherest away from the bathroom door.

Rather than chase the harried young man down, Ziva returned to her desk, chagrined at what had just happened when she'd only intended on trying to reach out to Tim. In her haste to reach out to him, she'd broken one of her own rules. _Never sneak up on anyone who has ever been taken against their will and held captive, as Tim had just been._

While she knew it seemed like a strange rule to live by; in Ziva's experience, she'd met enough such victims to have found this rule to be not only necessary, but prudent. Giving herself a small headshake, she turned her thoughts on what she might to do fix this mess. Feeling empty of possible answers, she forced herself to put her attention back on her work.

Gibbs frowned at the normally humorous moment, seeing the genuine fear that coursed through his agent as the young man jumped up when Ziva spoke to him at his ear. Enroute back to his desk, the Team Leader had stopped at his agent's yell of surprise mixed with fright. Witnessing Tim's ferverent attempt now to apologise to Ziva for something he couldn't have helped, didn't sit well with the boss, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do to combat Tim's ingrained manners. Watching the young man's flight from the squad room to the head, Gibbs let him go and turned his attention to his one remaining agent. Seeing her startled and beginning to look as though she was blaming herself for what had just happened, Gibbs was beginning to feel slightly out of his league with all this emotional overload going on at one time. The brief conversation from Tony a short time ago wasn't shedding any light on this either.

"_Boss, we've got a problem. Senior McGee couldn't wait to make a phone call as soon he cleared the building._

"Damn it. Okay. I'll deal with it.

_Right._

Go get those answers from Sarah."

"_On it."_

Having hung up from talking to Tony, Gibbs had immediately set Abby on tracing where Senior McGee had called and taken himself back here while he waited for the results.

"Jethro?" Ducky's unexpected, yet so much appreciated voice was heard questioning something yet to be explained as the elder man walked around the corner from the back elevator. "What's happened? I received a call that my presence was needed up here for your team. Has something else happened?"

"Not sure, Duck." Gibbs answered his friend calmly without taking his eyes off his agent.

Seeing where the Team Leader's attention was focused, Ducky was soon well aware that something had indeed happened. Hearing that Jethro was not aware of what that something was, did little to help the situation and so the M.E. did what came naturally; he took the bull by the horns and asked the pertinent questions.

"Ziva, it is plain to see that something has upset you, my dear. Come, tell us what has happened."

Rising up from her chair, she walked over to the two men so their conversation would not travel any further than necessary. "I did not mean to do it. I was merely attempting to talk quietly with him. I completely forgot…" Ziva stopped talking when she realized she was running her words together in her agitation.

"Ziva." Gibbs interrupted just forcefully enough to get her attention.

"Gibbs?" she looked at him quizzically.

"Just tell us what happened." The boss encouraged calmly.

"Nothing happened, Boss. Everything's fine. Ziva, I'm really sorry I yelled at you like that." Tim answered as he slipped past them and returned to his desk as stealthily as he'd arrived in the squad room.

Three sets of wide eyes and slack jaws stared at the young man who now steadfastly refused to look at them. It only took a couple of seconds before they all realized he was completely serious about not discussing anything and left him alone, all of them going back to work.

* * *

Tony dreaded going back to this task. He hadn't minded the assignment when Gibbs had given it to him earlier:

_Tony, go talk to Sarah. Get her to talk: need to know about her relationship with her brother, with her father, and Pike. Need to know what the hell McGee Senior's problem is with his son, find out what she knows about that. Get her to tell you where their mother is."_

"_On it, Boss."_

He hadn't gotten very far with that conversation before he'd been pulled to escort the Commander out of the building. But, it was what he'd seen; not what he'd heard, that had pulled at his heartstrings.

_**Flashback**_

_Tony stood in the doorway of the conference room, silently so he could observe Sarah McGee without interfering with what she was doing or thinking. Sarah, for her part, stood at the window, leaning against it, letting it hold her up as her slumped shoulders shook with the force of her sobs. Almost instantly, the younger woman's words from the day before came back to haunt him now._

_Oh, C'mon, Abby! Don't stand there and act like you've never been cruel to my brother! You've hurt him more times than I can count! Don't you dare pass judgment on me! You either, Tony! Don't think I don't know how crappy you treat Tim! All the mean things you've done to him; I mean, c'mon! You pretended to be woman online to lure my brother; purely out of your need to ridicule him; no matter how private or painful that part of his life has been for him, for cryin' out loud! Every single one of you has treated Tim like crap at least once so all of you, just stop judging me!"_

_She had been right. They all knew it. But, none of them had had time to address her valid points. Right now, it seemed, was Tony's chance to do just that. He needed to talk to her about what she'd said. She needed to see that the team really did love her brother and that what they did wasn't ever meant to hurt him. Hearing Sarah talk about Tim's pain at what Tony had done as a practical joke, twisted the knife he hadn't even realized had pierced his heart._

_Seeing her like this, broken down in tears at everything that was going on around her, broke a piece of his heart off. She'd always garnered his attention; back when he'd first seen her photo on Tim's phone and even when he'd met her in person when she'd been framed for murder. Now, he found she was just as much of a spitfire; one, at this moment, who'd been trampled on and nearly destroyed by the looks of things. Hurting for her, Tony stepped up next to her and offered her a tissue that he'd pulled out of the box on the table for her._

_"Thanks." She offered softly while she wiped at her tears and cleared her throat._

_"You okay?"_

_"No. But that's not why you're in here. What do you want from me now?" she asked as she took a seat at the table._

_"If you're up to it…we need some questions answered." Tony replied while taking his own chance to sit at the table, choosing a chair next to her so they didn't have to raise their voices._

_"Okay."_

_"Personal Questions." He warned quietly. For some reason, he was no longer angry at her. Somehow, he couldn't believe she really had anything to do with what Pike had done to her brother._

_"I figured._

_"You were pretty upset just now. Wanna tell me about it?" Tony asked unexpectedly._

_Sarah's shoulders slouched and her eyes found the table. "Heard some things I wasn't supposed to." The return of her tears as they slipped down her face shocked him._

_**End Flashback**_

Walking back into the room now, Tony wasn't surprised to find Sarah standing back at the window, crying once more.

"Hey, C'mon, tell me what you heard that has you so upset. But, first tell me how it was you overheard anything." Tony soothed carefully

"I followed Agent Gibbs when he went down to talk to Tim." Sarah answered through her sniffles as she put her emotions back under wraps once more.

"You followed him back to the squad room?"

"Far enough that I could hear what was said without being seen."

"Okay. Care to tell me what you heard?"

Sarah recounted everything she'd heard in the squad room, the emotional toll it had brought, evident in her tear-stained face.

"Wow, I'll bet that was pretty tough to hear." Tony tried to sympathize even as his brain tried to wrap itself around the fireworks he'd apparently missed while going looking for Abby.

"It was." Sarah cried softly. "I never knew Daddy treated Tim like that. They never talk about each other in front of me. How could I not know things were like that between them? Why would Daddy hate Tim so much?"

"Sarah, you had to have known something wasn't right between them." Tony pushed.

"I figured that out when I talked to Daddy yesterday morning." She admitted tearfully. "I wish I'd never called him about it!"

"What'd he say?"

"That Tim was a good for nothing and that he needed to be taken down a peg. He said Tim had no right to run that background check on Ed behind my back."

"Sounds like you're Daddy's Princess." Tony quietly reasoned out without commenting on the content of what she'd just told him.

"Yeah. I always have been. It's never been a secret. But, I don't want it anymore! I never wanted Tim to get hurt, by anyone! I can't believe our own father treats him like that!"

"Sarah, c'mon, you heard what he said when you talked to him on the phone. You did know it." Tony pushed, hating the denial she seemed caught up in. "Just like I knew I was being a jerk to Tim all this time, but I kept it up. He's fun to make fun of; play practical jokes on. But, you were right. It hurt him. We've all hurt him. And we all need to do what we can to make things right with him. One thing about your brother, though, Sarah, is he has a really big heart and he never holds a grudge.

"I know." She sniffed.

"And I was wrong: about what I said to you about him not forgiving you; for making fun of him on that personal level, forever hurting him at all; you were right. But, I've changed since the days when I sunk that low, Sarah. We all have."

"Maybe." She allowed. "Abby sure doesn't act like it though."

"Abby's her own breed, Sarah. Doesn't change the fact that she cares and she cares deeply."

"Humph. Won't convince me of that, but that's not what I'm worried about right now." She admitted, her voice going soft with genuine worry.

"What are you worried about?"

"Tim. I'm worried about him because of the rest of what I heard. Tony, he wanted me to call Ed and tell him to offer Tim to him if he let Abby go! Agent Gibbs was really pissed at him for it. And that was after Daddy demanded that Tim tell him where I was. Agent Gibbs took care of that too."

"Wow. You've had more than an earful of eavesdropping. Got more than you bargained for?"

"That wasn't even the worst of it."

"How much more worse can it get? "

"I followed Agent Gibbs to Director Vance's office."

"Wait, where the hell was the agent supposedly guarding your door?"

"Relieved of duty. I'm not in trouble anymore. Remember?"

"And where was the Director's Assistant?

"I told her I was waiting for Agent Gibbs. She believed me. She told me she needed to slip down to the copier for some stuff that needed taken care of."

So, what'd you hear?"

"It was awful, Tony."

_"So first, he hides out all day because he's too much of a wuss to man up to his own arrogance and now he's hiding behind the badge and gun someone lets him play with? Thought you said he was missing, Agent Gibbs? Didn't I tell you he was just messing around? I don't understand why he still has a job; the nit-wit slacker!"_

"Yeah. I'll bet that was really hard to hear. Especially if you were being honest when you said you never knew your father treated Tim like that before all of this came down. Any idea why he does?"

"No. Not a clue, but wait. Maybe…. No, he wouldn't because of that…." Her eyes grew wide with shock.

"Sarah, just tell me."

"I can't. Tim doesn't even know. I'm not supposed to know either."

"Okay. But you need to tell Gibbs. "

"What? Why?"

"Because we need to know exactly what we're dealing with and why."

"Oh, God! Okay, I'll tell you Tony, I can't talk to Agent Gibbs." Sarah objected firmly.

"Nope. If this is that personal and your brother doesn't even know about it, it's not my place to hear it. You need to tell Gibbs." Tony reinforced firmly as he pulled his phone out. "Hey, Boss. Need you up here for a sec." Closing his phone, he stood up and walked to the door. Turning back, he looked at Sarah and offered her a peace offering.

"Sarah. I promise, things'll be different for you brother from now on; maybe you should make yourself that same promise. He deserves that much, doesn't he?"

Not waiting for an answer, he stepped out of the room to wait for the boss.

"Problem, DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled when he appeared a few moments later.

"She says she thinks she knows the reason their old man treats Tim like crap. But, Boss. I gotta warn you, she followed you outta here earlier and overheard almost everything that went down not only in the squad room but in the Director's Office, too."

"Doesn't explain why I'm here doing what I told you to do, DiNozzo." The boss growled.

"Boss, she said McGee doesn't even know what she knows. Didn't really think it was appropriate that I be the one to hear what she has to say." Tony said pointedly.

Gibbs blinked. "Good work. Go take a break." Going into the room, he shut the door.

Tony took himself back down to his desk, walking into a squad room that felt ripe with undealt with tension. Maybe it was his own conscience screaming to be heard, but the Senior Field Agent wasn't finding it very easy to just slide into his desk chair and get to work. Somehow, he felt something needed to be said.

"Probie."

"Yeah, Tony." Tim offered as he stopped what he was doing and looked at his teammate.

"Just wanna say, I'm sorry, Man."

"For what?" Tim asked with genuine puzzlement.

"All the crap I've pulled on you over the years; especially the really crappy stuff."

Tim blinked owlishly. "Okay. Well, that's great, Tony. I really appreciate it, but can we get back to the way things normally are between us, please?"

"Maybe." Tony answered as he finally took a seat in his chair and turned his attention to his work.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim asked with a touch of worry as he turned in his seat to look at his suddenly serious teammate. Looking across the room, Tim couldn't help but notice Ziva listening avidly to the exchange between them.

"Nothin', Probie. Just that normal wasn't exactly right and maybe normal is in for some changes." Tony offered with a rare show of sincerity.

"Nothing too drastic, I hope." Tim muttered as he returned to his work.

"What's THAT supposed to mean, Probie?" Tony asked angrily.

"Tony. " Tim breathed out on a sigh of frustration. Getting up from his chair, he walked over to Tony's desk and perched himself on the edge of it by Tony's elbow. "Look. It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do here." He offered quietly. "Really, I do. But, This… It…What happened….I can't be the reason you make changes in how you act or how things are handled around here." Tim looked down at the floor, almost ashamed of taking this hard line about this. He'd waited so long for Tony to get it and now that the Senior Field Agent had gotten it, Tim was fighting against the unnatural feel of it all. Still, he had to make sure this was real and not just because Tony felt guilty. Tim wasn't trying to be a hard-ass or mean-spirited, just honest; heart-wrenchingly honest.

"If you wanna make those changes, great; but, please do them because you want to for you; not to make anyone else feel better."

"Look, McGee. I'm doing this because I want to. I couldn't give a rat's ass about everyone else right now." Tony replied seriously and just as quietly. This semi-private conversation was just too damn important to broadcast or trample on.

Tim looked at Tony and frowned at the hurt look on his friend's face. He'd put that there and at that moment, he saw the genuine apology lurking deep in the senior agent's eyes. He nodded and gazed back down at the floor with a heavy heart.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony shrugged. "It's okay. To be honest, I didn't expect you to accept my apology to begin with. I know I've been a pain in the ass on my good days. But, I need to grow up a bit anyway. I'm not gettin' any younger and can't carry on like some co-ed on spring break. And you're not the team scape-goat and I can't keep treating you like you are."

"No. You can't, Tony, there are some things that don't need changing. And some stuff just needs a little adjustment." Tim replied quietly, bringing a frown to Tony's face.

"What are you talking about? In what way?"

Tim offered a small smile. "I'm talking about you being yourself, Tony. In the way that when we have a case that can really knock us on our backsides, you manage to give us that little bit of light relief. Sure, sometimes you take it too far, but the majority of the time it makes us realize that there is more to the death and destruction we deal with everyday. How about a compromise? Just tone it down a little, listen to us when we say enough's enough and stay out of our personal lives unless we let you in, fair enough?."

"Sure thing, Probie. Hey, how about a brotherly hug to seal the deal?" Tony grinned and held out his arms.

Tim couldn't help but laugh at the goofball antics and shook his head as he stood up and walked back to his own desk. "Don't push it, DiNozzo!"

No sooner had Tim returned to his seat than Tony's cell phone rang.

"Agent DiNozzo." Tony answered.

"_Get back up here."_

"On it, Boss." Tony snapped his phone shut and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Thanks again, Probie." He offered as he sprinted out of the squad room and hit the stair running.

Around the corner and halfway to the conference room door, he collided with the boss.

"What's up?"

"No idea, DiNozzo. She asked to talk to you again. She's free to go when you're done talking about whatever it is."

"She answer all your questions?" Tony asked in surprise.

"Nope. Guess you've still got work to do." Gibbs smirked as he left Tony standing there.

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it back out, Tony squared his shoulders, tucked his heartwarming conversation with Tim away for safekeeping and opened the door.


	12. Chapter 12

The Team Leader walked back to the squad room with a heavy heart. His brain was still processing what he'd just been told, and with a glaring reminder flashing through his mind, of his own inability to deal with stuff like this on a normal day, he turned around and went in search of the one person who could possibly help him make sense of this mess.

"Jethro, what brings you down here without a current case, my friend?" Ducky asked quietly as he noticed his friend looked less than happy as he stepped into the Autopsy suite.

Gibbs shrugged slightly and leaned against one of the empty autopsy tables with his arms folded across his chest. He saw Ducky frown slightly and knew he'd made the right decision because if anyone could help him sort through this, it was the one person who didn't think twice about telling him he was wrong, or giving him some sage advice that made sense. Wanting to make sure the coast was clear to talk, he asked, "Where's Palmer?"

"He has gone for the afternoon. His classes sometimes require the poor lad to double up on his studying and since we have no current autopsies or reports that are due, I gave him the afternoon off."

"Got a minute?" The question was not unexpected by the M.E.

"For you, Jethro, anytime." Ducky responded seriously. "I have just brewed some tea, and while I know you are not quite as partial to it as I am, I have just finished taking stock of what we need and putting in my purchase orders. No easy fete considering we were fairly low on everything. A break, and a cup of earl grey would be welcomed right now."

Gibbs allowed himself a smirk as he headed into the inner office behind his friend, not wanting to have this conversation where anyone could walk in and overhear any of it. He knew the M.E. didn't always have the time to talk and was pleased to have caught him at a good time. "Got coffee?"

"Of course. Mr. Palmer has taken to…what is the term, forgive this old mind of mine."

"Mainlining?" Gibbs supplied shocking his dear friend.

"Hmm, that sounds about right. As I said, is studying is taking a lot more out of him than expected, poor boy so he has begun drinking it nearly as much as you do. I haven't turned off the coffee machine so there should be a full pot." Ducky chuckled warmly and shook his head. "I believe the blend will suit you perfectly as well. It's the strongest he could find."

Gibbs huffed out a short laugh and made his way over to the machine in the main autopsy suit. It really shouldn't have been there, but then again, neither should the kettle and microwave that sat out of the way. He made quick work of pouring himself a mug before turning back to walk back to where his old friend was preparing his tea. He paused and turned back knowing that this conversation could take a while, so picked up the whole pot and carried it back.

Ducky took a minute to look his troubled friend over when he returned and cocked his head slightly at the dejected look on the Team Leader's face. "Jethro, does this have something to do with Timothy? Has something worse happened to the dear boy?" the M.E. walked over and patted Gibbs on the shoulder before closing the door. Walking to his sofa, he perched himself on one end of it, leaving the other open for the Team Leader so they could sit comfortably while they talked.

"Besides having the hell scared out of him when he was convinced Pike had Abby because no one could reach her, ya mean?" Gibbs asked with a touch of dry sarcasm. His anger for what Tim had put himself through still smoldered deep in his gut and truth be told, it would take a while for it to tamper down.

"Well, yes, Jethro. There is that. However, we must avail ourselves to the relief we all felt when we became aware she was in fact, perfectly fine and safe."

"I know, and that's not it. To answer your question, I just had a talk with Sarah."

Ducky nodded knowingly. "Ah, I see. I take it she said something that does not sit well with you?"

"Thing is, Duck, McGee doesn't even know about what she just told me."

"Ah, and you came to ask me if you should tell him because his sister has found it necessary to make you aware of it and you don't wish to keep secrets from him."

Gibbs couldn't help but wonder how his friend read him so well. Out of all the people that have come and gone over the years, not one of them seemed to know him like Ducky and even from the first day, the M.E. had surprised him with his insight and wisdom.

"Something like that."

"Jethro, I hesitate to be the sole opinion upon which you base that decision. Timothy's trust in you is deep. We are all aware of that. Tell me, why is it his sister felt the need to tell you whatever this is?"

"Needed to know why their father treats McGee the way he does." Gibbs answered succinctly and without hesitation.

"Ah, I see. And yet it is a reason that young Timothy, himself is not aware. It sounds to me as if the reason behind Master McGee's horrible behavior towards his son; might very well be that he is not the young man's father after all." Ducky observed as he watched Gibbs' reaction closely. Judging by the flinch, that only he had the privilege of seeing, the option that Ducky had just laid on the table was exactly what the truth of the matter was.

* * *

Abby scowled. She hadn't felt this much anger towards a person since…well, since yesterday when she'd felt it towards Sarah but, the point was, the resident Lab Rat was beyond angry as fury burned through her veins. No one should have this many people going after them in a small circle of people like her Timmy did right now. It just wasn't right! He didn't deserve this! What the hell was wrong with these people? Breathing out a huge sigh of frustration and anger, she picked up the phone.

* * *

"Yeah, Gibbs." The Team Leader answered his ringing cell phone.

"_Gibbs! Mr. McGee's phone call… he…you're not gonna like this…."_

"Just tell me, Abby." Gibbs requested tiredly as he rubbed his free hand over his face. Right now, he didn't have the energy to deal with Abby, but the fact that she was hurting too, stopped him from hanging up on her.

"_He called that bastard Pike!"_ She trilled through the phone making Gibbs scowl. He didn't give her a chance to say anymore and snapped his phone shut. On the other end of the phone, Abby stood in the middle of her lab looking bewildered momentarily, but knowing that what she had said sparked something in Gibbs; something that he had to act upon.

He hit the door sprinting as he double-timed his way back to the squad room. As his foot hit the top step and he practically pounced out of the stairwell door, his stomach settled down with relief . He could see the shadow of his youngest agent where the young man sat at his desk. Tim hadn't gone anywhere. As far as he knew, Sarah was still up in the conference room with Tony. _Oh, jeez. Was she still up there?_

Whipping out his phone, he stopped moving toward the squad room and waited for Tony to answer his phone.

"_Hey, Boss."_

"You still asking questions?" He demanded without greeting his senior agent and waited impatiently for his response.

"_Uhm, no, Boss. Matter of fact, __I'm driving her back to her dorm right__ now."_

"Stay with her, Tony!"

"_Uhm, okay, For how long exactly?"_

"I don't care, just stay with her. That phone call her father made was to Pike!" The phone was snapped shut once again and Gibbs stood there hoping that his trust in Tony stopping Sarah from becoming Pike's next possible victim wasn't misplaced. _What had him immediately thinking Sarah was in danger if Pike had gone after McGee to avenge Tim's interference in the first place?_He wasn't sure, but his gut was telling him he was right.

* * *

Tim's face lost all color as his boss' words reached him from around the corner of the squad room. Ziva watched with concern as her teammate became increasingly upset at what he'd just heard. _Was Sarah in trouble? Would Pike hurt her even though the jerk had gone after Tim supposedly for Sarah's sake? It didn't matter what she'd done or not done, Pike was not gonna get a chance to hurt her, not if Tim had anything to say about it._ _She was still his little sister and he was still gonna protect her till his dying breath. It didn't matter what Dad claimed about him. It hadn't mattered since the day he'd started sprouting off that garbage about Tim anyway; since the day…._

Getting to his feet, Tim ignored the pain that pierced his heart at the realization he'd just gotten a mental glimpse of. No, He had to be wrong. He wouldn't accept it as true, Regardless of whether or not it was true, he had to do this. Mentally sliding the lock home on the door to the place his thoughts had just tried taking him and walked past Tony's desk and around it, out of the squad room up the stairs, determined to end this mess once and for all.

* * *

Shaking his head slightly, Gibbs breathed out a sigh and carried himself the rest of the way to his desk from he'd stopped in the hallway. It took him all of ten seconds to notice Tim had somehow slipped out while he'd been on the phone with Tony just now without him seeing. "Ziva! Where's McGee?"

"He just left, Gibbs."

"Where?"

Ziva pointed to the stairs where Tim could be seen reaching the top and turning to go to the hallway of conference rooms.

"Call DiNozzo. Tell him I want an update." Gibbs ordered as he quickly hurried followed after his youngest agent.

* * *

"Sarah, are you sure you wanna do this?" Tony asked for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes.

"Yes, Tony. I'm sure. This has to stop. My brother's been hurt enough. This has been going on long enough." She answered firmly while Tony parked the sedan and looked her square on.

"What are you talking about? Your boyfriend only kidnapped your brother yesterday! Are you saying he's been planning it for a lot longer and you knew about it?" the agent demanded forcefully.

"What?" Sarah asked him incredulously. "NO! I'm not talking about Ed! I'm talking about my father! I don't know why I never saw it before. The signs were there; have been ever since…. I guess I just never wanted to admit my dad could be like that."

"What does this plan of yours have to do with your father?" Tony asked in confusion.

"You said it yourself, Tony. My father called Ed." She answered as she got out of the car, egging him on to do the same.

"Okay?"

"Patience, Tony." Sarah instructed with a saucy grin as she led the way into the restaurant and chose a corner booth, took her seat and waited for Tony to catch up.

"We're early. Still got ten minutes." He reminded her soothingly.

"Good. We can test this out." Sarah remarked without hesitation, showing him she had no need of being soothed or coddled.

"Still can't believe you're doing this." Tony offered with a touch of awe.

"It's not a big deal, Tony. It's the least I can do for Tim."

"So, you're not scared?"

"Of talking to my father? No. I was more scared to go back down and talk to Abby." Sarah answered him with a straight face.

"Well, you handled it like a pro." He praised.

"Only because you agreed with me and backed me up." Sarah admitted sheepishly.

_**Flashback**_

"_It's the only way to get him on what he's done, Tony."_

"_If you're sure this is what you wanna do."_

"_It is. I owe it to Tim."_

"_Okay, let's go talk to Abby."_

"_What? No way!"_

"_Hey, it's Abby or your brother. They're the only two that know how to do it."_

"_Wow. Okay, then. Abby it is. Lead the way, just be prepared to be walking out of her lab the sole survivor." Sarah joked._

"_She won't kill you. I won't let her. If I did, I'd have to answer to your big brother and frankly, I'm not up to that particular challenge." Tony quipped in return._

_Walking into Abby's lab together, they were both stopped short at the sight of the normally chipper Abby sitting in her desk chair, staring almost despondently at her computer screen, her lab eerily quiet._

"_Abby?" Tony asked gently._

"_Hey, Tony. What brings you down here?"_

"_We need your help?"_

"_We?" Abby looked over at him and finally noticed Sarah by his side. _"_What is she doing here, Tony?"_

"_Abby, just hear us out, alright?"_

"_No. I won't listen to anyone who had anything to do with what Timmy's been through, what he's still going through!"_

"_I didn't, Abby." Sarah offered quietly._

_Abby froze in her seat, turned to look at Sarah and glared at her._

"_I swear on Mom's grave, I had nothing to do with Tim getting hurt, Abby." Sarah vowed, tears pooling in her eyes. "I need your help to fix this. I owe it to Tim to do what needs to be done. Will you help me? Please?"_

_Abby got up, walked over to Sarah, looked at her long and hard for a minute and then threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly. "You bet, __I will!__ What is it you need my help with?"_

_**End Flashback**_

"Yeah, real scary stuff there, Sarah." Tony joked with a grin.

"Hey, just because you know her, doesn't mean I was safe going in there." Tim's little sister quipped back, her cheeky grin back in place.

Tony couldn't seem to let go of the smile that had made its' way to his face. He couldn't help it, she was not only attractive, but honest and decent, willing to go the extra mile to make things that had been turned wrong, right again. His stomach was suddenly turning somersaults and _why was his breathing becoming less than steady? _

"Tony, you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Ok, its' show time, one Naval Commander looking around outside. so I'll be in the booth right behind you, listening. Don't forget the code word. You want me to step in, you just say the word. As soon you get what we need, I'll give you the word and you can put an end to this, alright?

"Got it. Go on, I'll be fine."

"Okay." Tony slipped out of the booth and into the seat behind the empty seat across from Sarah. It would leave her father facing Sarah and oblivious to Tony's presence and with no reason to notice Ziva at all.

Ziva offered an encouraging smile to him as he immediately took a drink from his ice water and wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Sarah, can you hear me?" she tested the ear-wig the younger woman was wearing.

"Yes. We're good." Sarah answered in a shaky voice. Hearing Ziva's voice had startled the younger woman. She'd forgotten the other woman had been in their backup booth the whole time she and Tony had been talking.

"Okay, your father's almost at your table. Stay calm." Tony spoke softly into the earwig.

Sarah nodded slightly and took a drink of her water to calm her nerves. She could do this. She had to do this, for Tim.

"Hey Princess, This was a wonderful surprise after the god-awful day I've had. I thought you were too busy to talk to me. At least that's what your no-good brother 's boss; that Agent Gibbs told me."

"Dad."

"What's up, Sweetie? And why the sudden seriousness? You've never called me 'dad' before. You've always called me Daddy."

"I've grown up. Yeah, seems like I've aged ten years since just yesterday morning. Funny how finding out your boyfriend of six months is a closet maniac and dangerous felon can do that to a girl. Especially when she finds out her own father wants said boyfriend to kidnap and beat up on her older brother a second time!"

"Now you wait just one damn minute, young lady! You have no right to talk to me like that! I've protected you for your entire life! This was not different! I was just looking out for you!"

"You know what the sad part of this is, Dad?

"Go on, tell me."

"The saddest part of all this is that you really believe that."

* * *

Tim wasn't looking forward to this at all, but it had to be done. No one else was gonna get hurt if he could help it, no matter how much he was getting ready to have heaped on him by the man who was his father. He'd been sitting here for a good fifteen minutes already, trying to work out what he was gonna say. It was time to get it done. Breathing a huge puff of air, he reached out to the phone on the conference table, hit the speaker phone and dialed the number, listening to it ring, his stomach in knots and his heart up in his throat.

* * *

Before he could answer, Commander McGee's cell phone rang. Putting it on speakerphone more out of arrogance than anything else, he answered the call. _"__Hello?"_

_"Hello, Dad."_

What do you want, **Tim**?"

"_Dad, we need to talk."_

"What could we possibly have to talk about?"

"_Sarah."_

"I don't need to talk to you about Sarah. As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer part of this family. I'll take care of Sarah. You're obviously not capable of the job." Commander McGee replied hatefully.

"_I'm not gonna argue with you, Dad. I just called to ask you to leave her out of whatever your angry with me about."_

"What the hell are you talking about, boy? Why the hell would she have anything to do with that?"

"_She obviously loves Pike. You getting him to do anything bad to anyone will make her an accessory, not to mention crush her heart. Just, don't do that to her, alright?"_

"First of all, don't even try telling me what to do; with my princess or her boyfriend! I don't wanna hear anything your sorry self has to say."

"_I've said what I called you to say"_

"No you haven't. What the hell else do you have to say to me, boy? I know you. Always have a thousand questions you want answers to that no one wants to give you. You should have learned the day your mother died, boy; that your days of being treated like a part of this family died when she did."

"_What are you talking about? What does Mom's death have to do with any of this?__ I know you've always held me responsible for her dying, Dad. But…it…I couldn't… It wasn't my fault.__, Dad." _

Commander McGee breathed out a huge angry breath. He was riled now; riled to the point that he was no longer seeing straight; couldn't even see his daughter still sitting across from him, tears running down her face as the realization of what she'd heard a few years back was actually true and her father obviously no longer cared who heard about it or how they heard it.

Sarah felt trapped; frozen in shocked anger and sadness, even with Tony and Ziva sitting right behind her father, waiting for her to say the code word so she would have their support. She never wanted her brother to find out like this, but she didn't want him to know she was present for this conversation or that she was even with their father at this moment. She had to keep quiet for her plan to work, but staying quiet and listening to her brother's broken, pain-filled voice, brought tears to her eyes so she averted her eyes, choosing to glue them to the floor by her side instead, as she remained stuck in place listening to this awful conversation that would haunt her for a long time to come.

"I'm only gonna say this once, boy and then you and I are done.. I will NOT discuss the death of my wife with you! I don't care if she was your mother. My daughter lost her mother because of you. You're place in this family is no more. It died with my wife because you're not my son."

Silence was thick over the phone line, which seemed to only spur the Commander's anger on more. "As a matter of fact, I've been waiting eight years to say this to you. You've started this, we might as well get it over with. You're not my son because you never have been. Doesn't matter that I adopted you when I married your mother. Only did that to make her happy. You've been nothing but a disappointment to me from day one anyway. Couldn't go to school like a normal kid; couldn't go out and play like a normal kid; always stuck up in the house, under our feet, always showing us up with your supposed genius brain of yours, couldn't even go to high school like a normal kid; had to go early; had to attract all the attention of the bullies. Hell, you couldn't even handle them right!"

"I never complained." Tim's soft defensive response broke Sarah's heart, the tears flowing down her face.

Tony and Ziva shared looks of anger for Tim mixed with sympathy for what he was trying to do with this call. To have his world turned upside down by the man he'd believed to be his father all his life, was not something he should have to deal with; especially on the heels of what Pike had just done to him.

"You didn't have to, stupid kid! Your mother did it for you. Why do you think she was always picking you up from school every day for a week, every time you'd been beat up? I told her she was only making you into a wuss, but she wouldn't listen. You made my life a living hell, boy!

"_I don't understand. If you hated me, why did you buy me the car?"_

"Again, that was your mother's doing. She begged and whined and cried, going on and on about how her baby deserved his own transportation because he'd earned it. Something about incentives and just rewards. Just rewards? I'll tell you about just rewards, look how long that car lasted! THAT was your just rewards! Who the hell gave you a license when you couldn't even work the wipers on the damn car? Never understood that. I told your mother you were too stupid to drive a car, but she wouldn't listen!"

_"It was an accident."_ Tim's small voice came through the phone.

"You totaled a brand new car, you moron! It wasn't bad enough you made mine and my baby's lives miserable; you and your stupid phobias, sicknesses and allergies, so damn many of them we could never keep count! No, that wasn't bad enough, then you couldn't even serve your country, you worthless piece of a wannabe! I mean, who the hell gets deathly ill from just walking onto a boat that's not even moving for cryin' out loud! Like I said; we're done! Walk away, from me and from my daughter and Pike won't bother you again. Take it or leave it!"

The clicking of the phone was the only answer any of them heard.

* * *

He found himself sitting there feeling so shaken and numb that he didn't realize the tears were trailing a path down his face. The numbness that he felt seemed to infuse every square inch of his body and mind so much so that he didn't register the fact that he hadn't been alone while he'd made that call.

The click of the lock didn't break through, either; nor did the other person sitting down next to him.

There was nothing; he was just...numb.

He didn't even realize that someone else had ended that awful call for him and taken the phone from his hand, unexpectedly, silently and quickly; leaving him sitting there frozen, as it were, while his mind tried to process, what had just happened; just staring at the wall without moving an inch, tears still escaping to slide down his face.


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you for your invaluable help, Shelbylou! You rock!_

* * *

_We're done! Walk away, from me and from my daughter and Pike won't bother you again. Take it or leave it!"_

_The clicking of the phone was the only answer any of them heard._

Snapping his phone shut, Commander McGee suddenly sensed the eerie stillness around him and knew it was of his own making. He found himself looking around and his eyes found his daughter…no, his princess, crying silently as she huddled into herself. The force of her sorrow shook her shoulders even though her arms were wrapped around her small body and despite her eyes being fixed firmly on the floor, he could see the tears that ran down her face in rivulets and dropped down onto her folded arms.

"Sarah, Honey, I…" he tried to explain what he'd just done because he needed her to know and needed to explain exactly what had happened.

"Stop. Just stop! There is NO excuse for what you've just done! Tim is the LAST person who deserves to be treated that way! " she shouted at him, her eyes flashing with the full blown fury as she unleashed her malice towards the man in front of her. She was mindless of the public display they were on now which told her father, that the anger was taking over and at this point, there was nothing he could do to appease her or get through to her.

"Sarah…" her father couldn't hide his shock.

"It's true then." Her angry voice dropped octaves lower to something that was almost dangerous.

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard the argument between you and Mom that day! You were yelling at her that you were sick of trying to be a father to a troublesome kid who wasn't even your son. Mom was pleading with you to see Tim for the great person he was. Just like always, you refused to even hear what she had to say about him. I always thought you treated Tim like crap because I was your favorite. Never, in all my life, did I even think that the real reason …that it was ANYTHING like this!"

"Sarah." Her father attempted yet again to reach out to her, amidst her outraged speech.

Have to tell you, I was blown away when I heard what you said to her. Still haven't figured out why you were so pissed about being Tim's dad when he's been taking care of himself since he was 12. He hardly came home anymore because you were horrible to him every time he did put himself out there and come home! At least Mom still cared about him, but every time she tried to talk to you about Tim coming to see her, you got mad at her. "

"Sarah…" Commander McGee 's eyes shone brightly with tears of regret and hurt at what his daughter was saying.

"You broke her heart that day, Dad. _You_ broke it! Not Tim! _You_ made her cry. She ran out of the house in tears because of _you_! It was _your _fault she didn't see that light turn red, Dad! She was crying so hard, she couldn't see clearly because of YOU! But, you've been blaming Tim every day since it happened…You…always you…" Sarah's voice trailed off as her pure, unadulterated fury ebbed into heart wrenching grief. "Why?...You…it's always been you…"

Commander McGee hung his head. She was right and he knew it, but the deep sense of loss he felt over his only son not being his own flesh and blood had long since colored his perception of things in life. Unfortunately, it ended up with Tim usually bearing the brunt of it. It had taken a long time for the commamder to deal with finding out that he wasn't Tim's father and in the same conversation, being asked if he would adopt the boy. That had been years ago when Tim was just a baby, but somehow the pressure he felt seemed to suffocate him to the point that the only way he could deal with it was to unleash it onto the very person the situation revolved around.

The death of Mrs. McGee had been no different. Since the argument had not only been about Tim's parentage, but was about Tim finally coming for a visit after six months of staying away from home after his last trip, Commander McGee had righteously held fast to the belief that the entire tragedy was Tim's fault and been quite vocal about it whenever he got the chance. He wanted everyone to know what a loser his _'son'_ was and how it was his _'son's'_ fault that he'd lost his beloved wife.

Sarah was on a roll now and the chance of a lifetime to lay in to the man who'd treated her beloved brother like crap for the past 8 years, had arrived. Her emotions were currently on a rollercoaster that hurtled out of control and there was no stopping her now that she had started. With the fresh understanding that all those years of her being treated like the favorite, had more to do with punishing Tim than in her father's genuine devotion to her. She felt used and the way it had happened left her feeling as though her trust had been abused in one of the worst ways possible. She felt overloaded and more than ready to unleash it onto the man that she_ thought_ she knew.

"Tim knows you blame him, hell, everyone knows you blame Tim, but you're wrong, Dad. You are so wrong and you know it. You know Tim had to work that weekend! He'd just been transferred to a new team and the transfer went with his promotion, Dad. Did you really expect him to jeopardize his job because you wanted him to come home and help you paint the house? " Sarah asked angrily, the tears having dried up in the face of the fury that once again burned through her veins. "Mom understood! Why couldn't you? You know what you did? You had to lie to him and tell him she was so upset with him not coming home, that she had the accident. God, you're so horrible! You might not be his biological father, but you still bought him up! He loves you! Even after all the crappy things you've said and done to him. He. Still Loves. You.!"

"Family comes first." Commander McGee answered sternly and without a hint of remorse.. "That's why I called him, Sarah. Family always comes first. He should have come home! Simple fact of the matter is if he'd come home, your mother would still be alive. And, yes, I brought him up. You got that right and I've given that boy everything even though I always knew my genes won't go any further through him!"

"In emergencies, Dad. Families come first over work only in emergencies.! Not for home repairs!" Sarah threw back at him. "Were you ever gonna tell him that he's not responsible for Mom's death or that he's not your son? Let me guess, the answer's no because then the great Commander McGee would have to admit that HE caused his wife's accident and not her son! God, Dad! How COULD you? How could you treat him like this all these years for something that's not his fault?" Sarah blew out a furious breath before narrowing her eye dangerously. "Bloodlines? You're worried about the damn bloodlines?"

"If you've known all this time, why didn't you say anything?" her father demanded defensively. "You knew and you kept it to yourself. I don't get it Sarah. I just don't understand. Oh and no, for the record, I'm not worried about the bloodlines. But, let's get back to what you knew and why you kept quiet all this time. Come on, Explain it to me."

"Because I never blamed him for Mom's death; you did! And YOU need to tell him the truth!"

"Sarah…" It was shaking him to the core to hear his beloved princess say that he had no right to stand firm in his assertion that Tim had been responsible for his mother's death. It was destroying him. In his mind, Tim was the one that his wife was upset with and the reason that she'd blown through that red light and been broadsided by the dump truck that had killed her instantly.

"Speaking of truth, Dad, did you hire Ed to kidnap and beat up on Tim?" Sarah deliberately changed the subject while things were still brazenly open and honest between herself and her father. She needed the truth and catching him off-guard was the only way to get it.

"No, I did not!" The man's reaction was instantaneous and quite obviously genuine.

"But you called him right after you left NCIS." She threw at him with narrowed eyes and a glint of the underlying accusation that she knew would hit her father where it hurt.

"Yes. Yes, I did." Her father agreed without hesitation.

"Why? "

"What concern is it of yours?"

"**Why** did you call him?" she demanded hotly. There was no way she was letting this go because right now, she needed to know. It was the whole reason she was here to begin with.

"I wanted him to reinforce his lesson to your brother. Thought it might add triple the insurance that you'd never have any more trouble out of your brother after this. Why would you have a problem with this, Sweetheart?" His argument must have been one that he'd ran through his head time and time again until it sounded reasonable. He wanted Sara to agree with him so much, that he was arrogant enough to believe his argument would work.

"Because you're trying to find ways to hurt Tim and Ed is the perfect way to do it."

"I thought you loved that young man, Sarah? From the tone of your voice, it sounds like you don't anymore."

"How can I possibly love anyone who would treat my brother the way Ed just did?" Sarah replied vehemently.

"Honey, he did it because he loves you. He wanted you to be able to be free to make your own choices without having to answer to your brother. It worked, didn't it? Your brother promised to stay out of your life. Hell, Pike even got him to agree to get rid of the damn dog, too! What a hoot! That Ed's a real keeper, I'll tell ya." Commander McGee gave a short chuckle and shook his head.

"Then you keep him! Because I'm through with him! I'm through with you, too! Stay out of my life and stay out of Tim's too!" Sarah cried as she got to her feet and ran out of the diner; Ziva on her heels.

* * *

"_You're place in this family is no more. It died with my wife because you're not my son."  
_

"_You're not my son because you never have been." _

_"I adopted you when I married your mother. Only did that to make her happy."  
"You've been nothing but a disappointment to me from day one anyway. You made my life a living hell, boy!"  
_

"_Just rewards? I'll tell you about just rewards, look how long that car lasted! THAT was your just rewards!"  
_

"_I told your mother you were too stupid to drive a car, but she wouldn't listen!"  
_

_"You totaled a brand new car, you moron!"  
_

"_Walk away, from me and from my daughter and Pike won't bother you again. Take it or leave it!"  
_

"_You should have learned the day your mother died, boy; that your days of being treated like a part of this family died when she did."_

His father's harsh words ran through his mind repeatedly, leaving him feeling breathless and unable to do anything but dwell on them. It wasn't until his own voice pushed them to one side as his argument resounded through the emptiness.

"_ I know you've always held me responsible for her dying, Dad. But…it…I couldn't… It wasn't my fault., Dad." _

"It was an accident. It wasn't my fault, Dad." Tim repeated the words in a whisper under his breath as he began to come back from the empty numbness that had encompassed him after the awful conversation with his father that had left him reeling in shock.

Gibbs frowned. He hated that Tim was going through this and that it had been the young man's own father that had hurt him like this. The realization that the cruel excuse for a father wasn't even Tim's father to begin with, only churned Gibbs' anger hotter. When Sarah had informed him earlier in the day that the facts of Tim's parentage had been the reason behind Senior McGee's ill-treatment of her brother, Gibbs had seen red and he'd barely kept it under control as he made a quick escape for the coffee shop around the corner. He planned to use the time to cool off before he could go talk to his friend about what he'd just been told. She hadn't mentioned any accident and there was no mention of her mother either. Then again, Gibbs had made a rather quick getaway. He'd needed to for both their sakes. Now, he found himself wishing he'd somehow found a way to stomp down his emotional reaction and get more out of her before this had all come out like this.

Now, as he waited for the help he'd call for earlier to arrive, the team leader made a firm decision. He wouldn't push Tim to talk about this any more than he had pushed him to talk about what Pike had done to him. But he wouldn't let him stew in it alone either. Breathing out a sigh of frustration and anger on Tim's behalf, Gibbs made another decision and he knew that right now, it was time to bring this mess back under some control so Tim could move on. Sure enough, it would be in small steps, but he would be as patient as he could be so that Tim could heal at his own pace.

The whisper of a knock sounded at the door and the Team Leader quickly opened it. He was relieved to see Ducky standing there and ushered the M.E. in so he could tend to his Agent. Gibbs pointed him in Tim's direction wordlessly and closed the door before locking it once again. Gibbs proceeded to walk around the M.E. and over to his agent knowing that being in Tim's line of sight would help the young man once he managed to pull himself out of the mire that his mind was bogged down in. It was important that Tim know his team leader was here for him, through the crap and the clean up. It might be the first time but it damn sure wouldn't be the last.

"It was an accident. It wasn't my fault." Tim repeated the words yet again. This time his eyes seemed to widen as if reacting to some kind of shocking news. "Not my son. Never have been." He launched himself to his feet with the anger that boiled in his heart rolling off of him. Tim finally became cognicent of the present and let loose a stream of questions that spoke volumes of where his head was at.

"I'm 33 years old, for cryin' out loud! Why the hell couldn't he tell me the truth years ago? Why'd he have to keep dragging Mom through that when he could have just told me the truth and been done with it? Why didn't she ever tell me? Oh, God! He's right! She was protecting me! It was my fault! She's dead because of me!" Tim's knees buckled and it was Gibbs and Ducky's quick actions that saved him from crumpling harshly to the hard floor. They gently eased him down and grabbed a chair each so that they could sit to the side of him. It was important that Tim knew that they were there, not only to watch over him, but to ground him and provide him with some kind of support that told Tim that he wasn't alone.

Suddenly, a flash of concern crossed his mind for someone else in this mess. Getting up, Gibbs whispered in Ducky's ear.

"I'll be right back. Let him know I'm right outside."

Ducky nodded silently, wanting Tim to be the first to break the silence if and when he felt like it.

* * *

Tony quickly caught up to Ziva before she'd gone very far in her efforts to get to Sarah. "No. Let me talk to her. You handle Pappa McGee and his ultimatums – sure sounded like enough to charge him with something, don'tcha think?" The anger rolled off the Senior Field Agent in waves.

"Yes, Tony. I will deal with the Commander. In fact. I will meet you back at NCIS."

"Don't let your guard down around him, Ziva."

"It is not me you need to caution, Tony." She replied grimly and with an air of surety that put Tony at ease.

"Yeah, I know. Somehow, I'm not worried. He'll get what's coming to him one way or another." Tony smirked and turned around to hurry after Sarah.

He felt relieved when he managed to locate her rather quickly and spotted her sitting on a bench at the closest bus stop. He sidled up to her and nudged her with his shoulder. "Going somewhere?" he asked with a teasing tone designed to get a smile out of her.

She rewarded his efforts with a small smile. "No."

"Oh, so then you're just sitting here to mess with the bus drivers' heads." He reasoned out with a straight face. "That oughta teach them to be on time more often. So, what's your big plan for bus domination Dr?"

"Dr?"

"Oh yeah. I would call you mini-me, but that'll make McGoo Dr Evil and that just ain't happenin'. Nope, you're the one wanting to wage war on innocent bus drivers by screwing with their heads, so you're Dr. Evil." Tony grinned and shook his head.

"Huh. Can I call Tim mini-me?" she joked back with a smile.

"Sure. Why not. I don't even think he fits that bill. He's too damn good hearted for that." Tony replied and offered a warm smile.

"Yes he is." Sarah's smile grew bigger and she ducked her head to quietly chuckle. It wasn't long before that sound of mirth transformed itself into the sound of sorrow as the tears came and the tremors wracked her body.

Tony didn't think twice and reached for Sarah's hand so that he could pull her into his arms. He sat there silently holding her as she cried her heart out. Her failure to combat his movements drove home with him how overwhelmed she was and so he stood up with her and pulled her closer to him knowing that she needed his support and protection right now. He began to walk her away from the bus stop, back toward the restaurant where he could at least make sure she got a decent meal to combat the hell she'd just been through.

"What the hell's going on, Sarah?" the angry bellow came from less than ten feet away as Edward Pike seemed to materialize from nowhere and advanced on them with pure jealous rage that saturated the air around them.


	14. Chapter 14

"_What the hell's going on, Sarah?" _

Tony pushed Sarah behind him and scrutinized the furiously angry Edward Pike who, by all outward appearances, was threatening them with every approaching step he took. It didn't take long for the seasoned former street beat cop to realize that Pike was ready to fight, and there was no doubt in the Senior Agent's mind, that no matter what, he would protect Sarah at all costs.

"Stop, right where you are, Pike! Come any closer to her and I'll arrest you so fast your head'll still be spinning when we get back to the Navy Yard." Tony warned menacingly.

"Tony, we still need his confession. I need to talk to him. The wire's still activated. Let me do this." Sarah reminded him quietly before she stepped out from around him and stopped just a step in front of him. "Ed. I called you earlier and asked you to have coffee with me. Do you want to or not?"

"Answer my question, first, Sarah! Why is this Navy cop hanging all over you?" The seething man demanded, his eyes snapping between Sarah and Tony with fury.

"There's nothing going on, Ed. Tony's my bodyguard." Sarah's relentless aura of calm seemed to be keeping Pike irritated.

"What? Why the hell do you need a bodyguard?"

"NCIS just wants to make sure nothing happens to me like it what happened to my brother." She said almost in an offhand manner. "C'mon, let's get that coffee." She took hold of his shirt sleeve and tugged him along with him, sending Tony the warning look to leave her the room to work this out.

"Wait, what happened to your brother?" Ed's feigned ignorance as the two of the walked back into the restaurant without Tony only served to turn up the heat of Sarah's anger. Still she had a job to do, so she bit her tongue and harnessed her reaction, showing him only a small smile and a calm she wasn't feeling.

Sarah waited until they were seated in the same booth that she'd just vacated a short time ago before she answered. "Let's get that coffee." Beckoning a waitress, she placed the order for their drinks and then turned her attention to Ed. She stayed silent, choosing to give him the conversational floor.

"What happened to your brother and why are you looking at me like that?" he demanded defensively.

"Why don't you tell me what happened to Tim? Tell me all about how you watched our fight yesterday morning Ed. Tell me how you snuck up on him while he was getting the spare tire out of his car, picked the tire iron up off the ground where he'd left it and hit him over the head with it. And then tell me how you kidnapped him, beat up on him and left him tied to… a table, was it?"

"How the hell….?" Ed sputtered angrily.

"It doesn't matter how I found out!" she interrupted him angrily. "What matters is NCIS thought I had something to do with it! What matters is that no one deserves to be treated that way; especially my brother! What matter i…."

"You told him to stop interfering in your life, I was just helping you out; you know, reinforcing what you wanted." Pike interrupted her. "I love you, Sarah! I only did it because I love you. I wasn't gonna let anybody mess that up for us."

"**You** messed it up for us, Ed. But you know what? I'm relieved to know now that this is how you handle things. Because, God forbid, I had actually allowed myself to marry you; what would you have done to my brother if he pissed you off then; huh? Maybe murdered him in his sleep? Is that something else you're capable of, Ed?" She demanded almost screaming at him now.

"NO! Sarah, I would never…."

"I sure hope not. Tell me, Ed. What did my father say when he called you earlier?"

"Your father's crazy, Sarah! He wanted me to do it again." He defended harshly. Sarah didn't flinch at his words or his tone and sat there outwardly calm despite her heart rate shooting up even more.

"Do what again?"

"Ya know… take your brother against his will; keep him tied up for a while."

"What's a while?" Sarah asked gently, somehow managing to calm down even though she wanted nothing more than to beat the man in front of her and give him a taste of his own medicine. She knew it wouldn't help though and kept her mask in place.

"He told me he wanted your brother to be taught a bigger lesson; told me to keep him under wraps for at least three days; longer if I wanted."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him I wasn't doing jail time just to make him happy. I'd do it for you, Sarah, but I ain't doin' it for your old man!"

Sarah's mouth dropped. "Are you hearing what you're saying, Ed?" She let her façade drop slightly as shock set in.

"Well. Yeah, I'm serious. I'd do anything you asked of me, honey, you know that. I love you."

"Ed. I'm gonna be straight with you. I loved you. I honestly did. But you destroyed what feelings I had for you when you hurt, kidnapped, beat up on and threatened my brother. You and I? We're through. Done. Over. I appreciate that you refused to go along with my father, but you threatened to put my brother through it again or hurt someone close to him if he didn't cooperate with you. I'm not sure why you didn't go along with him, but, at any rate, you didn't and for that I thank you but, it doesn't change what you did. It also doesn't change the fact that you're capable of treating people that way. That's not the kind of person I want to be in love with, Ed. It's definitely not the kind of person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm sorry, but goodbye Ed. Please don't make this hard for either us by fighting me on this because if you truly love me, then you'll just accept it."

Sarah got up and left the booth, glancing at Tony where he sat at the table across from their booth as she walked to the ladies room. As she reached the safety of her destination, Tony quickly turned his eyes onto the person he needed to keep track of in order to keep Sarah safe.

Pike's sorry form, was the epitome of a person in shock. He wasn't moving and his eyes were glazed over as his deep breathing betrayed the emotions that he was feeling. If Tony didn't know better, he'd think the guy had been scientifically frozen in place. None of that mattered to Tony. He remained watchful of the guy so long as Sarah was in the same vicinity; unwilling to let Pike have any chance to do anything to her. She'd just dumped him; quite publicly and had just admitted that she knew of his criminal behavior. What's more, she'd gotten him to admit to that behavior. The ringing of Tony's cell phone shattered the silence that had descended their section of the restaurant.

"DiNozzo."

"_Sitrep."_

Tony stood up and quickly stepped away from Pike, making sure to keep the man in his line of sight. _"__Hey, Boss. Sarah's in the ladies room. She's already confronted both of them. It's all on tape__."_

_"Get your ass back here, DiNozzo."_

"Boss, How's McGee?"

_"He'll be fine."_ Gibbs replied in the tone of an order.

"Boss, his father told him it was his fault that.…" The sadness that Tony felt for his friend was bone deep and right now, he wanted nothing more than to make sure Tim wouldn't be hurt by him ever again.

_"Yeah, Tony. I heard the bastard."_

_"_Maybe, but what you didn't hear was that Tim wasn't even home that day, Boss."

_"Not his fault either way, Tony."_ Gibbs practically growled.

"I know, Boss. But we both know McGee'll be buried under this if someone doesn't pull him out quick." Tony reminded the boss, concerned that the events and the emotional turmoil that would come with them would threaten to send Tim over the edge. _"_Bad enough, his sister's known all this since the day their mom died and never told him. I don't envy them having to work through that."

Gibbs snapped his phone shut and went back into the conference room.

_"Not my son. Never have been."  
__ Why didn't she ever tell me?  
Oh, God! He's right! She was protecting me!  
It was my fault! She's dead because of me!" _

As Tim remained sitting on the floor, weighed down under the heavy blanket of fresh blame and guilt he'd just thrown over himself at his father's harsh words, Ducky attempted to think of where to begin in getting Tim to let go of this mess. Unwilling to make things worse, the M.E. settled for silence while he waited for Gibbs to return

"What kinda of person does that make me, Ducky?" the quietly spoken question was riddled with the guilt and self-loathing Tim was half-buried under.

"Timothy, I'm not sure what it is that your questioning your character about."

"My mother was so mad at me for not coming home, that she couldn't see straight! She drove right through a red light." Tim admitted brokenly.

"McGee." Gibbs barked more to calm the younger man than from anger.

Tim silently looked up at his boss.

"It doesn't matter what you were told, it wasn't your fault."

Doubt filled those normally bright green eyes.

"You weren't even there, Tim."

"But, I…"

"No, McGee! Whether or not you were able to go home when your mother asked you to that weekend or not, her death was NOT your fault!" the boss barked so his agent would focus on something besides the determination to carry guilt that wasn't his to begin with. God knows, he'd already carried 8 years too many as it was.

"Oh, heavens, no, Timothy!" Ducky stated feeling shock wash through him. He had no idea how to pull Tim out of his guilt ridden slump and that scared him.

* * *

Tony snapped his phone shut and went back to his seat where he could keep an eye out for Sarah and an equally watchful eye on Ed. Seeing Sara coming back from the ladies room, Tony stood to meet her, their eyes meeting across the distance between them. Sarah shook her head at him. She wasn't done yet. He needed to let her finish this.

Making sure she was still looking at him, Tony firmed up his expression, wanting her to know he was still safeguarding her, as he sat back down where he could watch and actually get to her if he needed to. She smiled back at him in appreciation and returned to her seat across from the still shell-shocked Ed.

"Hey. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but you hurt me by going after my brother instead of just talking to me about this. We could have worked it out. All of us. My brother loves me and only wants what's best for me. He didn't trust that you fit that bill. Now, I know he was right and you have to face up to what you've done. You're a great guy when you're not letting things cloud your judgment, Ed." Sarah softly spoke to him in hopes of breaking through the fog he seemed buried under.

Ed looked at her surprised. "You're serious? You want me to just turn myself in? For what, Sarah? They've already dropped the charges for what I did to your brother. They can't charge me again."

"Actually, they can. They can't try you in a court of law more than once for the same crime. Double jeopardy doesn't extend to actually being charged. Jesus, I can't believe you think it does. It Doesn't mean they can't charge you again if you've never even been tried the first time, if they have proof."

"What proof do they have?"

"I didn't say they did. I said you should turn yourself in." Sarah answered him almost off-handedly as she looked down at the table, unable to look him in the eye.

As Sarah's words hit him, he started to notice the subtle nuances in her demeanor. For the first time, her calmness seemed to betray the shiftiness that radiated from the tense muscles and the tightly clasped hands in front of her. Pike became an angry menacing body of muscle as he reached out and gripped Sarah's wrist so he could drag her out of the booth. As he slid out from his side and pulled a gun from his pants pocket, he seemed to forget the fact that Tony was sitting a few feet away. He jabbed her in the back with the weapon he had concealed and forced her to walk with him.

Tony stood up and reached for his own gun. The look of sheer panic on Sarah McGee's face would haunt Tony for a long time and he bit down hard on the instinct to rip her out of that bastard's grasp so he could take him down safely. He settled for calmly following them out of the restaurant discretely by staying a good ten feet behind them, knowing that he had to wait until he got outside so he could hopefully minimize the number of potential innocent victims to this ordeal , praying they would take this menace down without hurting Sarah or anyone else. Right about now, Tony was kicking himself for sending Ziva on back to NCIS and hated the fact that he was wrong in thinking that it wouldn't get ugly like this. He could only hope and pray it wouldn't spiral out of control with any tragic consequences.

Unfortunately, Pike seemed to have the shrewd ability to very nearly disappear in a crowd and even while dragging an unwilling hostage, it was obvious that he'd perfected the art. Tony's mind was screaming that word at him; _hostage._ He couldn't let anything happen to his probie's little sister. She was his responsibility and she was a victim of this guy's brutal yet almost split personality machinations. Watching them almost run down the street, nearing the corner where they could genuinely disappear very quickly, Tony drew in in a deep breath and blew it out in frustration and did what he thought was best before it was too late.

"SARAH!" he hollered, knowing it would cause Pike to have a knee-jerk reaction and spin around to see who was calling her. If he could throw a wrench in the guy's plan then they stood a chance of him screwing up and them being able to take advantage of his mistake and getting Sarah free of him.

Sure enough, Pike's knee jerk reaction had him whipping around like a spinning top to see who had called Sarah's name. His grip on both her and the gun slackened for a split second and that was all she needed as she bolted, screaming for help as she ran, making sure not to run straight for Tony. She didn't want anyone to think he was the problem and she definitely didn't want Ed to target Tony any more than he already would.

"Sarah, come back here!" Pike yelled after her as he turned to chase her down.

Before he knew what hit him, Edward Pike found himself flying through the air and landing on his face, his arms being roughly being pulled up to his sides and behind his back before being cuffed together tighly. Tony caught Sarah moving towards the gun on the floor and watched as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket to pick it up.

"Good job, Sarah. You learn that from your brother?"

"Sure did." She said quietly and stood there holding the weapon in her fingers with contempt.

"What the hell are you doing, cop?" Ed snarled.

"Arresting you." Tony replied with a smirk and pushed him down harshly as he started to struggle. "Edward Pike, I am arresting you on charges of kidnapping of a Federal Agent, attempted kidnapping of a civilian, conspiracy to commit kidnapping of a Federal Agent and whatever else I can think of by the time I get you back to my boss. Oh, yeah, and by the way? You have the right to remain silent….."

* * *

Tim picked himself up off the floor and looked first at Ducky and then Gibbs, without saying anything for a minute. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, he took a deep breath, let it out, straightened out his shoulders and spoke to them. "Thank you. Both of you. But, I want you to know that whatever it is you think Sarah's responsible for in this, she's not. Where is she? Is she safe?"

"She's with Tony." Gibbs assured him.

Locking eyes with his boss, they silently waged war with Tim's long-term perception of Tony's habitual playboy attitude towards women against Gibbs' silent reminder that Tony never let anything bad happen to another person he was responsible for; especially family. Finally, after a few tense moments, Tim nodded and blinked… "Thanks, Boss."

Picking up his phone, he called his sister. It went straight to voicemail as did Tony's phone when he called it. Looking back to his boss in a mild but growing state of panic, he frowned. Gibbs shook his head.

"You gotta trust him, Tim. They're in the middle of something and we'll get to the bottom of this when they get back."

Reassured that whatever it was this 'something' was, had the boss' approval, Tim visibly calmed down and straightened up his shoulders. "I'm gonna go back to work." He murmured as he left the conference room without another word.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected." Ducky remarked.

Gibbs sent him his silent questioning look.

"Why, Timothy being so quick to come to his sister's defense after everything he's heard tonight."

"That surprises you, Ducky? Sure as hell doesn't surprise me."

"Ah, yes, we do have the content of that dreadful conversation to fall back on, but we must not forget where Timothy's mind was about this just yesterday."

"Yesterday, he didn't have all the facts, Duck. Now he does. We all do. Sarah's innocent of everything except wishing she could take back something she said to the big brother who loves her and looks out for her even if she doesn't like it. She won't say it again to him, that's for sure." Gibbs replied firmly. "I'm more worried about McGee continuing to believe that his mother's death is his fault. Tony said Sarah has known all this time that it wasn't his fault and didn't say a word. Even when their father publicly blamed McGee for it, she kept her mouth shut. That's 8 years of guilt, Duck and she never once told him."

"Oh, my. That may very well prove to be the tipping point for Timothy, I'm afraid."

"Keep an eye on him for me, Duck. I've got my hands full right now tryin' to get this case wrapped up."

"Certainly, Jethro. I shall want to keep a close eye on his sister as well. Today cannot have been easy for her." Ducky replied quietly. Truth be told, he felt shaken but knew that he had to be strong for Tim's sake.

"I'm sure the last 24 hours have been tough on her. She's tough, she'll get through it. She's with Tony right now, wrapping up the confessions she got outta those bastards."

"I'm sure that will help heal the rift between the siblings in the face of such secrecy and hurt."

"Let's hope so, Duck." Gibbs replied as he turned to head out of the room.

* * *

Pike was too heavy for Tony to lift so Tony stayed with his knee in the bastard's back, holding him down. He reached out and took the gun from Sarah before popping out the clip and securing it by flicking the safety on. It was difficult doing it with the tissue that Sarah had used, but he was damned if he was going to contaminate the evidence with his own fingerprints. With a comforting smile to the fraught woman in front of him, he gingerly held the gun, and reached into his pocket to pull out an evidence bag.

"I'm glad I forgot to put this back in my kit the other day." He said and watched as a small smile graced Sarah's pretty face. He returned her smile and stood up before ordering the hoodlum to stand up so he could frisk him and make sure he was safe to be standing next to.

"Get up!"

"I can't man, you've got my arms!" Pike squirmed and Tony could see his hands struggling against the cuffs.

"Well, I guess you can stay there if ya want to, but I sure wouldn't want my mug shot being taken from down in the dirt like that." Tony sniped as he frisked his downed perp for any more weapons.

"What the hell are you doin, man?" Pike demanded and flinched as Tony touched him.

"It's called pattin' you down for weapons, tweedle dumb." The agent remarked snidely.

"I'm so sueing you for this! You're gonna lose your badge!" Pike bellowed as he rolled himself around until he could throw his weight enough to get himself up to his knees and then struggle to his feet.

"Ya, you do that, pal. Just as long as you stay the hell away from the McGee family, I don't give a rats ass whatcha do to me." Tony told him with steel in his voice as he walked his prisoner to the car. He spent a moment making sure the child locks were in place on the doors so Pike couldn't escape before stowing Edward Pike in the back seat of the sedan and locking him in. He leaned back against the car and searched the area for Sarah. He'd seen her slinking off towards a restaurant and guessed she needed some time to compose herself in private. He grinned when she walked out carry two cups of coffee.

He smiled as she walked up to him and handed him one of the cups. "Thanks."

"No, Tony. Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't spun him around like that." Her voice was shaking as much as her hands so Tony reached out and placed his finger under her chin so that she was looking at him.

"Hey, it's okay. You're alright now?" Tony looked at her closely. "You are alright, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just need to see Tim so I can tell him how sorry I am for everything…absolutely everything." She answered him quietly.

"Yeah, well, I'm damn sure not lettin' you ride back to the yard with him back there, so, we're gonna sit here and wait for back up. Matter of fact, I've got just the ticket." Tony said with a grin as he pulls out his phone.

"Hey, Da'vid. Need a favor. Need you to come back here and take the other perp back in because I'm not lettin' Sarah ride in the same car with him. I'll explain it all when we get there. Thanks." Tony hung up the phone and smiled at Sarah. "Ziva'll be here in about 10 minutes."

"Tony it's a twenty minute drive with good traffic and this- is rush hour." She looked at the shocked faces in the long line of crawling traffic as they watched the situation evolve. "it ain't movin."

"Trust me, she'll be here in ten. You're lucky, if Gibbs was comin' we' have to wait 12." Tony grinned at her.

Sarah smiled back, but it faltered when she remembered the talk she still needed to have with her big brother. The way she'd hurt him with those horrible words yesterday morning and with the secret she'd kept to herself these past 8 years. Her father had been right about one thing and only one thing; she should not have kept her mouth shut about what really happened the day Mom died. Tim was gonna be devastated that she'd sat back and witnessed the way their father treated him over that and did nothing to set the record straight or stop it.

God, she felt like a horrible person but she'd been scared and without answers as to how to fix things with the only two men in her life that held her up when she fell and kept her company when she was lonely. They'd been her lifelines since her mother's death and she'd needed both of them. She'd needed both of them badly enough, she'd been turning a blind eye to the pain her father caused by upsetting her mother that day and causing her to be so upset that it cost her life behind the wheel. Admitting the truth; any of it, would have shorn off one of those lifelines and she would have drowned in the wake of that storm. Maybe she had been selfish to think that way, but she hadn't seen any other way. She prayed that Tim could forgive her. She prayed desperately for it.

* * *

Ziva arrived back in the squad room after having deposited Commander McGee in Director Vance's custody. She personally wanted to rip the Naval Officer apart limb from limb, but would not do anything to jeopardize her friendship with Tim or his case, and doing anything like that to his father was a sure way of doing it. As she walked, she put her phone away and went straight to Gibbs' desk.

Since he was just settling back down in his seat, he was surprised to find Ziva heading his way.

"Gibbs. Tony needs some assistance." She told him cryptically.

Tim's attention snapped up at that news, now worried for his sister.

"Relax, McGee." Ziva told him calmly as she couldn't help but notice his reaction. "He simply needs another pair of hands."

"Yeah. Go." Gibbs told her without hesitation. "McGee, sit down. You're not leavin' here until I know these bastards aren't out there layin' in wait for ya."

"Thanks, Boss." Tim answered as he sat back down and stared morosely at his computer monitor.

"Hey, guys!" Abby greeted as she strolled quite happily into the squad room, her pigtails dancing with her exuberant steps.

"Hey, Abbs." Gibbs greeted. "What brings you up here?"

"Can't a girl come visit her two favorite guys without them suspecting a hidden agenda?" she whined.

"Out with Abby." Gibbs ordered somewhat softly.

"Seriously, Gibbs. I just wanted to come visit you two. Timmy! How are you ? You okay?" she gushed as she turned her attention to her friend

Tim looked at her as she approached and smiled a small smile that almost reached his eyes. Standing up, he braced for the hug that she wanted and needed from him, glad to be able to oblige her. If she'd come round this time yesterday for it, he wouldn't have remembered anything about it.

"Yeah, Abbs. I'm fine." He bluffed. He wasn't fine but she didn't need to know that because there was nothing whatsoever she could do to help him get past this. This was between him and his sister. Unfortunately, there was also the problem of his nightmares that the crap Pike had pulled on him, had locked into his mind. They were hell bent on appearing anytime he tried to sleep. There was nothing any of them could do about it so he smiled as he accepted the hug, making sure to hug back as well. He kept the rest of it under wraps until the time came that he could talk to the right person or find a way to deal with the problem at home.

Abby looked at him carefully. "No. You're not. Timmy you do not have to put a brave front on for me. I wanna help." She soothed.

"Abby. I am as fine as I can be. Thank you, but there is nothing anyone can do to fix this except…. I'm fine." He let go of her, stepped around her and walked out of the squad room toward the back elevator, needing the room to breathe and maybe some advice before he burned bridges he had no desire to damage in the first place.

Abby watched him go and whipped around to talk to Gibbs. "What the hell was that?"

"Hey, C'mere." Gibbs motioned for her to come sit in his desk chair as he perched himself on the corner of his desk by her. Once she was sitting down and waiting for the shoe to drop, he dropped it.

"Everything about what Pike did to McGee was personal. Not to mention, there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. But, this is McGee's personal life, Abbs. It's been thrown under our microscopes by no fault of his own and only McGee knows what he does and doesn't need to get through this. We've solved the case so there's no more digging about anything on this to be done. McGee will tell you what he wants when he wants and you're gonna have to accept that and not hold it against him. You got me?"

Tears of compassion slid down her face as Gibbs' words sunk in. Abby nodded in agreement because she had no desire whatsoever to make this harder on her best friend.

* * *

Feeling completely talked out, Tim changed his mind about his destination and simply stopped moving, sliding down the stairwell wall on the level he'd stopped on, not even noticing which one it was. With his back against the wall, Tim drew up his knees and wrapped his arms around them, laying his head down as well. The peace and quiet and genuine blank screen in his mind at the moment, was exhilarating and so tension relieving that Tim wished he could stay here for the rest of the day.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony felt relief wash through him when he and Sarah were finally able to head back to the Navy yard. Ziva had arrived to cart Pike back there for him Giving him the opportunity to take Sarah back alone. He expected her to drop off for a quick cat-nap from exhaustion but was pleasantly surprised to see she had more stamina than he'd given her credit for. Smiling to himself as he glimpsed her profile while she stared pensively out the window, he thought back to the time he'd first seen this beautiful girl beside him, in an image on her brother's I Pod…Feburary of 2006. _Had it really been that long ago?_ _Come to think of it, it had almost been March on that fateful day_.

**Flashback**

"_Good morning. Good morning! Good morning. Good… good morning, to you! You! You! You! Good – ooh. What's that?" Tony asked as he stopped singing and pointed to something sitting on Tim's desk. _

"_Looks like an iPod." Ziva answered nonchalantly, already engrossed in something of her own on her computer. _

"_Ipod photo." Tony replied almost illogically. _

_Anyone who might have possibly had a motive to try to kill them…" Ziva brought the conversation back to the case at hand _

"_Either has an alibi or is out of town. Way ahead of you." It was Tony's turn with the nonchalant tone. _

"_You could have told me and saved me the trouble" Ziva complained._

_Just say you need the practice and leave it at that" Tony taunted in his usual brash style. "What kind of music does the McGee listen to? Ooh, Barry Manilow. Julie Andrews? Zamfir? Let's go to photos." _

"_What are you doing?" Ziva demanded in obvious irritation. _

"_Well, McGee had a date with Agent Larsen last night. He didn't return any of my emails about a sit-rep. But maybe he took some photos." Tony answered as if what he was doing was right and logical. _

" _Those are his private photos." Ziva reminded him sternly._

"_Well, he left them on his public desk. Oh! Where's the clicker? Ah, who is this?" Tony sniped back in his typical illogical way that only made sense to him when it favored him in the end. _

"_Well, it's definitely not Agent Larsen" Looking at the photo Tony had sent to the plazma screen, Ziva fell into Tony's trap of talking about the private and il-gotten picture. _

"_It's gotta be his sister." Tony declared firmly._

"_Why?" _

"_Are you kidding? This girl's way out of McGeek's league" Tony took the picture down quickly as Ziva alerted him to the boss' presence._

"_Put it back up there" Gibbs ordered quietly._

_"Put what back?" Tony pretended innocence but then felt his head receive the slap he'd known was coming from the boss._

_"McGee's got good taste. Going for coffee." Gibbs commented as he delivered a head slap to Ziva on the way out._

_"Ow! What was that for?" Ziva asked loudly._

_"Alerting DiNozzo." The boss replied calmly._

_**End Flashback**_

Tony smiled as the memory of that conversation replayed itself almost as crystal clear and vividly as it had been when the conversation actually took place almost four years ago. For some reason it had obviously stuck in his mind and truth be told, he liked the fact that it had.

"Tony?" Sarah asked.

The agent glanced over at her. "Yeah?"

"What are you smiling about? I would think after the way I botched this whole thing with Ed, you'd be pretty pissed right about now."

"Nah. It wasn't your fault. No, I was just remembering the first time I saw you." He admitted through his million kilowatt grin.

"Wow. I'm flattered. You were bringing me in for questioning on Jeff's murder, as a possible suspect and that picture of me in your head has you smiling now?" she asked incredulously as her own mind flashed back to that moment they'd first met.

**Flashback**

_Sarah hears a throat being cleared in front of her and already feels annoyed at yet another interruption just so some guy can get her number from her like she's easy pickings. "No, you can't have my number" she spoke without so much as looking up from her book.._

_"I already have your number, Sarah." Tony said calmly._

_Sarah looked up at him and then over at Ziva. "It's not what you guys think. My eyes water when I read a lot and these lights are really crappy. Are you guys here to arrest me?"_

_"No." Tony's answer was once again quiet._

_"You do have to come with us, though." Ziva informed her._

_"Yeah, sure. Are you guys just being nice to me 'cause Tim's my big brother?" Sarah asked._

_"No, I'm always nice to hot girls." Tony answered which drew a smile out of Sarah._

_**End Flashback**_

"Ha." Tony huffed out a laugh at the memory she's talking about. "Yeah…I mean, no, that wasn't the first time I'd seen you."

"Really? When had you seen me before that?" Sarah's eyes were questioning and when Tony glanced at her, she had cocked her head inquisitively.

As Tony recounted the story, aided by his vivid recollection of it, Sarah couldn't help but smile at what both men had said about her back then before they'd even met her but her mind screeched to a halt and backed up to something it hadn't liked hearing.

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief when Sarah smile but when that smile faltered a minute later he drew in a breath and held it, waiting for the shoe to drop.

"Out of my league, Tony?" She asked carefully as her defensive anger for her brother and all he'd been thrown began to heat up.

"Yeah, I know, Sarah." Tony breathed out. "Look, you gotta remember that this was four years ago. I've changed. I swear I don't treat him like that anymore."

Her eyebrows shot up in correlation to the genuine disbelief that literally rolled off her.

"Much." Tony admitted ruefully. "Besides, Probie's learned to give back almost as good as he gets and now…look, you and I have already promised each other to treat him better from now on. We've got that to bank on. Right?" Tony's statement was said in earnest because suddenly it was very important to him that she be okay with how things were between Sarah and Tony, as well as Tony and her brother.

"Yeah. I know, just as long as you really mean it, Tony. Tim's gonna have a hard enough time swallowing what I've done to him. He's gonna have a lot to deal with thanks to the selfish way I've handled things between him and Dad since Mom died. Hell, even before that." Her answer was laced with guilt and when Tony glanced at her again, he noticed that she had gone back to looking out of the window.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you mean ' before that'?" He asked quietly. His cursive looks over towards Sarah were becoming more frequent and in this last glance, he could see the tremors that shivered through her small frame. He found himself reaching out of her and was mildly surprised when he realized that he wanted to, rather than needed to. He wanted to be that certain someone that she could come to for a comforting shoulder to cry on and someone that she could use as her rock to ground her.

This was new to him, but he was hit with the sudden wave of emotion that came with knowing that everything he wanted out of life was suddenly right here, right now. He knew he'd spend time later, marveling at the realization that he hadn't had the urge to run the opposite direction pulling his hair out at the sign of a woman crying or trying to hold back the tears but, right now, living in the moment, he'd do what it took to help her open up and let it out.

"Sarah. Talk to me. I've heard everything that's been thrown at you today. Don't you think I might be able to help?" He said warmly and looked her straight in the eyes.

Letting out a sigh of sorrow, Sarah straightened her shoulders slightly and looked down at her lap. "Thank you, Tony. After the afternoon we've just had, it does seem almost right letting you in on the rest of it. Maybe you can help; at least maybe you can help Tim if he needs to talk."

"Don't exclude yourself, Sarah. It's pretty obvious to me that you need to let some things go, too, so, c'mon, tell me. What did you mean?"

"Ever since it hit me the first time how wrong it was for my father to treat Tim the way he always has. When it stopped being okay for me to be so doted on while he was constantly dumped on and talked to like crap. I was too busy being 'Daddy's Princess' to see what was going on right in front of me all along." She spat out angrily. "I can remember, my father's always treated me like his princess and Tim like he could never do anything right. Tim was the family scapegoat while I enjoyed the free ride and the extra attention. God, I've been a horrible sister! I even bullied him into not going to Agent Gibbs about Jeff's murder; put him in the position where he felt so trapped he not only lied but resigned. All because of me. Some sister I am."

"Sarah." Tony offered quietly. "I can't do anything to help here, but I do know your brother well enough to know that he'll find your guilt harder to handle than what your father did to him. It'll hurt him more because you're blaming yourself for your father's choices.."

'Tony, that's not what I said. I'm not doing that at all." She argued back firmly.

"Good. Chances are Tim'll be telling you to stop blaming yourself for any of it. He'll also tell you to leave the past alone."

"I know. He will. That's just the way he is. It's a hell of a lot easier said than done, though." She admitted sadly and shook her head. "He's like that because he's got a good heart. He forgives easily and is usually the one that gets dumped on because of it. I don't want to be one of those people, Tony. I don't want to be one of the people he forgives and then betrays him."

"You won't. You're his sister and he'll do anything for you. I can't imagine what you're going through, but I do know that you need to talk to Tim. You ready to do that?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. There'll never be a 'good' time to talk about this. And I really hate having to do this before graduation, but at least finals don't start til next week. I need this resolved before then and so does Tim. He deserves to be able to get on with his life without any of this hanging over him. This is his chance to shed the guilt and blame he's carried around all these years."

"He's a pretty forgiving guy, Sarah. I can't believe you won't be able to get through this and come out stronger. Both of you." Tony found it surprisingly easy comforting Sarah and surprised himself with his words of wisdom.

"Wow, who are you and what have you done with Tony Dinozzo? I don't even know you that well and I know that wasn't typical of you." She teased through a chuckle and Tony noticed with relief, that she had relaxed at the advice.

"Ha. You're right, it's not, but I'm serious here. This is too important. Tim's like a little brother to me, even though I'll never tell him that to his face, if I can help it. I do care about what he's going through. I care about what you're going through, too." The unspoken, shocking thought of _more than you think_ ran through his mind.

"Thanks. But, seriously, Tim's had too many people walk all over his penchant for forgiveness without residual anger, Tony." She looked at him sharply.

"Guilty as charged. I'll admit it and I have agreed to work on it. I have to give you fair warning, though. I can't change overnight. Besides, it would completely freak your brother out if I did I mean, he'll think I've been replaced by a pod person or something. Freaky" Tony shook his head and shivered dramatically.

Sarah laughed outright at that remark. "Yeah, I'll bet he would."

Tony smiled as he got them through the front gate at the Navy Yard and drove to the office. The closer they got to their destination, the more tense Sarah's shoulders became. "Thank goodness, Ziva promised to call Tim for me before she even got back here, so he'd know he didn't have anything to worry about." She mused. "I didn't think could talk to him over the phone after all of this."

"Are you sure you wanna do this now? Tonight?"

"This isn't about what I want, Tony. It's about what Tim deserves. He deserves for this to be over, now. It's the least I can do for him."

"Okay. Snapping his phone open, Tony hit the button he needed. "Hey, Boss. We're here. Sarah needs to talk to McGee."

"_Well, yeah, DiNozzo. I realize that."_ Gibbs responded gruffly. _"Get her in here."_ Snapping his phone shut, the boss immediately opened it back up and made another call.

"_Agent McGee."_ Tim's exhausted voice came over the line.

"Get back to work." Gibbs ordered without raising his voice.

Snapping his phone shut one more time, he turned his attention to Ziva, the lone member of his team still in the squad room with him. He knew she'd already safely deposited Pike into the interrogation room where Vance had been awaiting his arrival. Seeing the Director so involved in this case was odd to say the least but with the fact that Tim's father held a prestigious Naval rank, caution was a necessity given the fact that the man was a suspect in his own son's kidnapping and beating and guilty of attempting to arrange for it to happen a second time. Team Gibbs was more than happy to be sitting this one out so no one could throw the case out on conflict of interest allegations.

Tim arrived back at his desk looking disheveled and exhausted. Sitting back down, he checked his desk for any new work before turning his attention to his emails. Once he'd done that, he seemed to physically fold in on himself as the lack of anything needing his attention caught up with his lack of energy and still aching body.

"McGee, pack it in for the night. Ziva, go observe."

Tim looked up in confusion, mainly at Ziva's assignment, but when she simply nodded and took off towards the back of the building, he returned his attention to doing what he'd been ordered.

With the Senior McGee and Edward Pike both solidly in custody, his agent was out of danger and the boss was glad of it. Before he could think anymore on that, the elevator announced its' arrival and Tony stepped off it, shepherding Sarah McGee towards the much needed reunion with her brother.

All hurts seemed to slip effortlessly away from his mind and his heart as Tim laid eyes on his sister for the first time since yesterday. The first thought that crossed his mind at the sight of her was, _Thank God! _As he tried to push down the worry he felt and forced himself to remain calm and restrained. He moved out around his desk so he could wait for her to reach him, unwilling to create a scene.

For the first time since that awful fight between them, brother and sister were in the same room together while they were both awake. Neither could hug the other fast enough or tight enough and neither could apologize enough. Tony noticed that Sarah's voice was louder and couldn't help but think that despite being so small, she knew how to take the bull by the horns and project herself enough to be heard.

"McGee. Go on. Go home. The work's done anyway."

"Thanks, Boss." Tim offered with a genuine smile that finally reached his tired eyes. He smiled at his sister and turned back to his desk to pick up his backpack. "You want to stay at my place tonight? We need to talk and I'm not sure your dorm mate would like us keeping her awake."

"Only if we can order take out." Sarah replied with a grin. "Chinese?"

"Why not." Their conversation got quieter and quieter as they walked towards the elevator and Tony silently sat down at his desk watching them leave. He turned his attention to his emails but was surprised to hear his name being called.

"Tony." Tim spoke quietly yet firmly enough that it was clear whatever was on his mind was important.

Gibbs looked up from his work to watch the interaction between his agents. It surprised him to find Tim and Sarah stopped before Tony's desk as Tim attempted to garner Tony's attention.

"Yeah, Tim?" Tony asked absently, his attention already glued to his computer monitor. When no answer came back at him, he finally raised his eyes to look at his teammate.

"Thank you for watching out for my sister and keeping her safe." Tim offered quietly with genuine appreciation.

Tony's usual response of 'no sweat, man' crossed his mind but was shoved out of the way by the response that fought to be spoken. "You're welcome, Tim. I'm glad I could bring her back to you safe and sound."

Tim's eyes grew wide and Gibbs smirked from across the room. "Who are you and what have you done with the real DiNozzo?" Tim demanded in mock disbelief. His eyes grew even wider when his little sister and the Senior Field Agent looked at each other and burst into laughter together.

"Somebody wanna tell me what's so funny?" Tim asked, confused at their reaction.

"Inside joke, Probie." Tony explained through his laughter and shook his head. His probie and sister were more alike than they would like to admit.

"I'm not sure what it is that you find so funny, Agent DiNozzo. But, If I were looking down the receiving end of a personal injury lawsuit, as you are, I don't think I'd be laughing about anything." Vance admonished sternly from the stair landing that overlooked the squad room,.

The color drained from Tony's face as he plopped down in his chair. "Damn it. He was serious."

"Who, DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded to know as he quickly got to his feet and brought himself into the fray.

"Pike." Tony answered with anger at the situation.

"Where the hell is Pike, Leon?" Gibbs demanded as he looked over at Vance.

"Last time I checked, Agent Gibbs, I ran this agency. Unless you've been promoted over my head and without my knowledge, which I seriously doubt. Mr. Pike is exactly where he is supposed to be; in our custody while he awaits the transfer into FBI custody."

"And Ziva?"

"I am right here, Gibbs." She said as she entered the squad room and walked over to him, her face an unmasked show of concern she felt for Tony's situation.

"Well, somebody better tell me what the hell's going on!" Gibbs barked angrily, sending Sarah McGee scurrying over a foot closer to her brother in order to distance herself from the team leader's ire. "DiNozzo, speak!"

"Belay that order, Agent DiNozzo! My office, now!" Vance barked angrily as he stood his ground, waiting and watching from the stair landing.

Tony stood, speaking quickly and quietly because there was no way he was leaving here without filling his team in. They deserved to know what was going on and he needed them read in so they'd have his back.

"Pike threatened to sue me, Boss. Guess he was serious."

"Why, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked much more calmly. "What reason does he have?"

"I don't know, Boss. I guess when…"

"His arm is broken, Tony. He claims you broke it." Ziva informed him sadly.

Tony just stood there gaping at her statement and felt as though he'd been slammed in the chest with some kind of invisible shockwave.

"When?" Gibbs asked into the air between the group as they remained huddled around Tony's desk.

"Must have been when I tackled him, Boss." Tony answered as he squared his shoulders and headed out of the squad room, taking the stairs in a seemingly calm and unhurried manner.

Gibbs continued to watch his Senior Field Agent walk to face the music up in the Director's Office. Tony's shoulders remained straight and his head held high, leaving no doubt that he believed in his actions and believed them to have been what he'd needed to do.

Tim's eyes were glittering dangerously with anger. Grabbing Sarah's arm, he tugged her back to his desk and gently sat her down in his chair. Whipping out a notepad and a pen, he set it down in front of her. "Everything" was all he said. It was all he needed to say, as comprehension dawned in her eyes and Sarah got busy writing down her statement of what had happened between herself, Edward Pike and Tony. Satisfied that she would do what needed to be done, Tim headed to the break room to get drinks for everyone and to give himself the chance to calm down.

This nightmare revolved around him and his sister and her stupid boyfriend and right now, Tony was in trouble because of situation that they had put him in. Having Tony get in any kind of trouble because what amounted to a personal vendetta against Tim was not right and there had to be something he could do about it. He just had to think.

The Team Leader smiled with pride in Tony as he turned his attention back to his remaining team, knowing he needed to get them busy doing something to avert this problem. Seeing what was going on in front of him, he blinked. Sarah McGee was busy writing at her brother's desk while Ziva stood watch from a discreet distance. McGee was just coming back from the break room, carrying a tray of drinks for them all.

"How's your statement comin', Sis?" he asked as he handed her a cup.

"Jeez, Tim. It's gonna take a while. I just got started." Sarah sniped at him as her anger at the mess she'd created climbed and focused itself incorrectly for the moment.

Tim's expression changed, for a split second, the glimmer of pain was there, but then he blinked and it was gone. "I know, Sarah. I…"

"But, if it helps, " Sarah continued on as if her brother hadn't spoken. "I started with what happened outside the restaurant since that's where everything went to hell real quick."

Tim's face lost some color and Ziva was quick to step up to him and quietly reassure him that everything was fine and that's what he needed to concentrate on. Nodding at her gently, he smiled in appreciation for her efforts and returned his attention to his sister.

"I finished that part." Sarah said as she held the pages out for Tim to see.

Tim looked over at the pages she held up and shook his head. Looking at Ziva, he quietly asked her. "Think we have any transcriptionists left in the building at this hour?"

"I will get one." she replied in that tone that booked no argument and promised results.

"Sarah, you said you're done with your statement of what happened outside." Gibbs broke into the discussion as he approached them and stopped when he was shoulder to shoulder with his youngest agent, in an effort to at least show him he was proud of his not wasting any time in getting started on what needed to be done next to help Tony and put this case to bed. "Did anything happen inside the restaurant between Pike and Tony?"

"No. At least, not that I'm aware of. I went to the ladies' room and when I came back, Tony was just putting his phone away. Neither was speaking to the other, so I assumed Tony was still staying out of it like I'd asked him to." Sarah answered while she steadily looked him straight on.

"Tell us what happened outside." Gibbs requested as the pages she'd written remained on the desk, untouched so no one could claim they'd tainted her statement or any evidence.

Sarah nodded in agreement and told them the facts as she knew them. As she spoke, she seemed to lose focus on where she was and what was going on around her and her eyes glazed over slightly. While her story continued, Ziva returned with a new person, who signed for Sarah's statement and picked up it up.

Gibbs nodded towards his desk and watched the unfamiliar typist settle down to start transcribing the handwritten pages into type so it could be electronically included into the case and be more official for Tony's defense in this stupid lawsuit. He tore his eyes away and looked back at Sarah as her story continued. Her focus was still far off and her voice rising and falling with the emotions that the events of the day had brought out. Even as her tale wound down, she continued speaking, now in Tony's defense, her eyes still unfocused

"There is no way Tony should be punished or in trouble in any way for what happened. He saved my life." Sarah said as her eyes suddenly became clear and her head turned so that her eyes could land on something beyond their view. Her face lit up and she smiled tremulously in that direction. As the trio of agents turned to see what had enraptured her so, they found themselves looking at Tony, who'd just come back from the Director's Office, a piece of paper in his hand.

The Team Leader scrutinized his agent and felt his gut sir at Tony's slow, determined demeanor as he trekked towards them. He knew at that moment, that whatever the younger man had brought down from the Director's Office, it wasn't good.

"You alright, DiNozzo?" He asked as he kept his eyes firmly on his senior agent.

"Suspended, Boss." Tony said quietly as he handed over the paper. "One month and an official reprimand on my record. That's IF we win the lawsuit. If we lose I'm probably gonna be poundin' the pavement for a new job real soon."

Soft cries of outrage and protest could be heard from Ziva, Sarah and Abby who'd arrived just in time to hear Tony's statement.

"You can't be serious!"

"Suspended?"

Gibbs glared at them briefly before turning back to Tony. "Tony, sit down and tell us everything that happened because I'll be damned if I'm letting you take the fall for something that wasn't your fault."

Tony started to tell them all what happened and sat there drowning in his own fear that he'd lose the job that he loved. Everyone crowded around Tony to show him their support and soon became so engrossed in listening to their friend, that they didn't really notice a few moments later when one of them slipped away, determined to complete the mission before him.


	16. Chapter 16

Director Leon Vance was pissed. He hated it when the dirt bags got to call the shots and hated it even more when the good guys got stepped on along the way. Vance hadn't wanted to let this personal vendetta in the form of a lawsuit carry any credence with the case but found his hands tied by red tape when Pike lawyered up and the pricy lawyer had come prepared, lawsuit paperwork in hand. Vance was still reeling from how the hell that might have happened.

Still fuming about the events of the day, he was hard pressed not to yell at the person who was next to walk through his door, especially when they didn't knock before barging in. Looking a second time he struggled believing what he was seeing and sat there silently staring until the shock wore off.

* * *

Tony finished telling everyone what happened and looked around. He was suddenly struck with a wave of disappointment and anger when he noticed that was surrounded by Abby, Ziva and Sarah, but Tim and Gibbs were nowhere to be found. Obviously, they'd both slipped away in the midst of the all the hubbub, neither of them saying a word about leaving or why Suddenly, he felt as if the world had just been yanked from underneath his feet as his emotions started to get the better of him. _What? He no longer mattered to the boss? Was McGee so suddenly shallow that what Tony was facing as a result of saving McGee's sister from Pike wasn't importan_t? As the anger began to grow hotter, so did the need to get out of the building and away from the people igniting the flame.

"Thank you, ladies, but I really need to go home." Tony managed to offer as he disengaged from the group, shut down his work station and headed out, leaving three women gaping in surprise in his wake

Although he was fast, Sarah McGee was faster. Running, she caught up with him at the elevator. "Remember what you told me earlier? I want you to know that the same goes for me, Tony." She told him quietly as she handed him a piece of paper with her phone number on it. "Anytime you need to talk, I'm there for you. Thank you for saving my life today." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before turning back to the squad room where Abby and Ziva where they waited for her brother's return.

Slightly mollified, Tony hesitated but for a second. He still needed to get away, but he didn'really want to leave Sarah with this between them, not that he was angry with _her_, just her brother. Besides, he was still feeling some kind of new wave of kinship towards her and he didn't want to disrupt that.

"Hey." He called her back quietly.

She turned back to him, ready to be there if he'd changed his mind about needing to get away.

"Thanks, Sarah." Digging out his wallet, he handed her one of his business cards the team carried around to hand potential witnesses who might need to contact them.

Seeing her eyes light up lifted Tony's spirits some and he managed to offer her a smile. "See you around sometime?" he offered as a half good-bye, half hope for the future.

"That'd be great." She replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He replied dismissively with a small smile. "You don't have to worry about me. I've been through worse. I always land on my feet."

"Tony, I'm really sorry about this. I feel like this is my fault. I wish there was something I could do to fix it." Tony's statement hadn't really come across as honest to her. She knew a brave front when she saw one; her brother had perfected the art of presenting them within her family a long time ago.

"More than I can say for your brother." Tony muttered under his breath.

"What? No, Tony, why would you say that?" Sarah demanded defensively with a dose of anger at such an accusation against her gentle, caring bother.

"You see for yourself, Sarah, he's disappeared. Didn't even say a word to me when I came down from the Director's Office. What else am I supposed to think?""

"You're supposed to rely on what you know about his character, Tony." She told him firmly, angered at his vehement belief that Tim had abandoned him. "I know my brother and he didn't just disappear for no reason. Matter of fact, I hear you're a betting man. I bet you $200 that he's in the middle of trying to help fix this mess!"

"Yeah? I'll take that bet! " Tony answered her with all the arrogance of someone who thought they were right. "And I'll even hope you win it." Tony shook hands with her, sealing the deal. "I gotta go. I really need some air."

"Tony, I don't think you should be alone right now." She looked up at him and Tony could see the worry shining brightly in her eyes. He reached out and chucked her under the chin gently.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He told her as he fought to keep from soaking up her concern and wallowing in it. He couldn't let himself do that, it never worked out for him with any woman he seriously tried to get close to and he didn't have the energy to go through the motions or feel the pain when it all fell apart like he knew it would.

"Tony." Ziva's voice surprised him as she walked up to stand just behind Sarah. "She is right. You should not be alone. Come, I will treat you both to dinner."

"Really?" Tony asked and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You want to treat us both to dinner?"

"Yes, Really. As a matter of fact, we can make it a team dinner. I am sure the others will want to show you their support as well."

"Nah, thanks, Zee. But I'm not up for the whole 'team unity' thing tonight." Tony ducked that option, not willing to face the two missing team members who he was still angry and disappointed in.

"All right. Then shall we make it just us three ladies and yourself? Surely the famous Ladies' man can not turn that offer down" Ziva replied with narrowed eyes as she attempted to read her partner's scowl at the suggestion of a team dinner.

"That'd be nice." Tony smirked. "You're right on something there, Ziva. What red-blooded male in their right mind would refuse the company of three beautiful women?" They all chuckled slightly at his reply.

"Why don't you and Sarah head out and Abby and I will join you when we have finished closing up our work stations for the night? You know where you want to go?"

"Sure. Uh, make sure you leave a note for Gibbs." Tony reminded her, deliberately not mentioning Sarah's big brother, knowing Ziva would remember that much on her own.

"I will. Send me the name and location of the restaurant you choose and we should only be a few minutes behind you."

"Don't need to. You know the restaurant I mentioned before?" He waited for Ziva's knowing smile and nod and grinned. "Okay then. Meet you there." He held out his arm for Sarah and was relieved when she took it without hesitation. With that, they stepped into the elevator and headed out.

Thirty minutes later found Tony, Sarah, Abby and Ziva all happily ensconced in a booth at the very same restaurant Tony and Sarah had just dealt with Pike at earlier in the day. Tony had chosen the place in hopes of permanently replacing the bad memories of the place for Sarah with good ones. He couldn't figure it out, but he could only think of her and ways to make her happy. He was smitten with her, more so now with her in person, than he'd ever been with her photo that first day he'd seen it, those four years ago.

Abby and Ziva had opted to share one side of the table, Sarah hadn't complained as she'd slid in beside Tony and bashfully dropped her eyes after seeing the knowing smirks on the other two ladies' faces. Not that she'd assumed they were blind; but to know they'd picked up on Sarah's interest in Tony this fast was worrisome to her. It meant she was being too obvious.

Ziva and Abby, on the other hand, were smirking at Tony's sudden disposition and behavior. It was obvious to them both that their Fearless Leader in Training had fallen and fallen hard. They were happy about it; for both of them, but it was still fun to smirk about it and get away with it.

Needing something to say to break up the unusual quiet that had somehow found its' way into their midsts, Abby decided to throw something out there arbitrarily.

"I wonder what's taking our food so long." she griped as she took another tortilla chip and dipped it into the salsa before savoring the flavor as she bit into it.

"I'm in no hurry." Tony reassured her. "Ziva, you did leave a note for the boss, right?"

"Yes, Tony. I did." His partner reassured him.

"Tony, relax, would you?" Abby encouraged. "You know Gibbs won't let you down. He'll fix this. Now, enjoy our company or I'll kill you and destroy all evidence."

"I'd be happy to help you relieve the tension in your shoulders later, Tony. I've learned from a pretty good teacher, how to give a massage that will do that." Sarah said quietly. Tony knew that she'd dropped her voice so much, that only he would have heard her.

He smiled down at her without answering because he didn't want to have to explain what was being discussed to his nosy teammates. He turned back to the group and started chatting about nothing in particular when he was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.

"Hi, guys!" Tim greeted as he and Gibbs walked up to their booth.

Tony's exhilaration slid off his face and hid under the table as he turned his eyes to the newest arrivals to the party. Turning to glare at Ziva, he turned back to look at the boss, completely ignoring Tim. "Hey, Boss, what brings you here? He was unaware that he couldn't hide the sarcasm enough, nor keep eye contact enough to maintain any appearance of his question being genuine interest. His deliberate snub of his probie wasn't to be missed either, he knew and what's more, didn't care.

Silently, Gibbs looked at his downcast agent who'd been downright jolly before he'd been aware of their arrival, and motioned to Ziva and Abby to take Sarah and leave them for a minute so he could talk to Tony.

Tim took in what he could of the situation; Tony's refusal to look at him or even greet him, the Senior Field Agent's sudden change in behavior even with the boss and even the boss' scrutiny of the situation. Breathing out a sigh of frustration, Tim quietly spoke to the boss. "I'm gonna go have a drink at the bar." Without waiting for a reply, Tim walked away, his shoulders slumped slightly with defeat at the reception he'd gotten.

Gibbs watched Tim walk away and frowned as he turned back to his older agent. "Tony. It's just you and me now, so cut the crap and tell me what the hell's going on?" he asked quietly as he slid into the booth seat across the table from the younger man.

Tony's eyes snapped up. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He declared staunchly.

Gibbs' eyebrows marched upwards and Tony's eyes suddenly found the table between them fascinating.

"Something going on, I don't know about?"

"What? No." Tony denied too quickly.

"Something's going on that I don't know about. Start talkin'"Gibbs changed the question to an order with steel in his tone. He wasn't going to sit back and watch this tear his team apart.

Before anything else could be said, Tony's cell phone rang. Looking at it in aggravation, Tony's mouth firmed into a grim frown. "Great. Vance. Can't even get through dinner without the toothpick trying to drag me down even further." Hitting the button, he answered the call. "Agent DiNozzo."

"The l_awsuit's been dropped and so has the reprimand off your record, Agent DiNozzo. Let's just put this down to a serious warning to be much more careful in the future when dealing with suspects."_

"Huh?.. Oh, uhm, Director, I…." Tony stammered as the shock rendered him speechless.

"_Good night, Agent DiNozzo."_

Tony snapped his phone shut when he heard the dead air that let him know Vance had been around Gibbs too long, having already hung up on him before he could get a word in edgewise. Smiling, he put his phone away and took a drink of his water so he could take a minute to compose himself.

"Something wrong, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked guardedly.

"No, Boss. Matter of fact, everything's fine. Lawsuit's been dropped, my record's cleared and everything's good. Wonder what the hell happened?" Tony mused as he glanced at his boss.

Gibbs' eyes went to his agent sitting morosely across the room at the bar, nursing the full drink he obviously didn't even want, since the drink had been set in front of him several minutes ago and Tim hadn't even raised it up to drink from it once. The team leader sincerely hoped that this unexpected and unexplained rift between his boys wouldn't keep Tim from being able to put this whole terrible ordeal behind him. Goodness knows the kid had been trying like hell to keep going despite the weight of personal pain and conflict it had brought down on him.

Tony's mind was spinning. _Had he missed something? How the hell had everything been taken care of so quickly and almost painlessly?_ Suddenly, as he took stock of where the boss' attention had gone to and the concerned look the older man couldn't hide from his eyes, it dawned on him what Gibbs was saying. "Boss? You know something about this?"

Gibbs looked at him silently as he recalled the conversation from earlier that had in fact, been about this.

_**Flashback**_

_Gibbs set his hand on the door of Leon's office, but strangely enough, found it locked against his attempt to invade it. With the Assistant gone for the night, Gibbs was forced to either wait patiently or knock until he got an answer. Never one for patiently waiting for a closed door to be opened, he knocked loudly three solid times, thankful the door was snapped open only a minute later. While he expected the door to be opened by Leon, he was shocked to find himself being admitted into the room by someone he was hadn't been expecting to see here, instead._

_Before he could question what it was he'd walked into the middle of, Vance spoke. "Gibbs. What can I do for you?"_

"_What's going on, Leon?" Gibbs asked instead of answering the question put to him._

"_What's going on, is your agent is attempting to fall on his sword for his teammate but I've just informed him that he's wasting his time and mine. There's nothing any of us can do to stop this can of worms from being ripped open."_

_Turning to his agent, Gibbs raised his eyebrows in silent question._

_Tim looked Gibbs straight on; spurred on by anger at the situation and determination to make this go away for Tony since it was a McGee family problem taken seriously out of control by the bad guys. "Boss, I have to do something. It's not right that Tony has to go through this or have it on his record."_

"_Yeah. I agree with you there, McGee. But, why didn't you come to me, first?"_

"_I wanted to see what I could do without anyone knowing about it. There's been enough attention, good and bad, on me over this whole nightmare and I wanted to do this privately."_

"_What is it you think you can do to change things for Tony, McGee?"_

"_I thought maybe we could make a deal with Pike."_

"_McGee, I don't…"_

"_Make deals, Boss, I know. But this is different. And I'm not just saying that because it involves Tony's career. This entire case was a personal vendetta against me, we all know that. __Since it involves a Naval Officer, when it goes to court; this will be all over the papers. I'm suggesting an option where we all win; Tony gets his name and his record cleared, and the Agency's name won't be dragged through the mud. And Pike gets whatever punishment his side of the deal works out to be if he drops the lawsuit."_

_Gibbs thought for a minute. He thought about what Tim wasn't saying a__bout __how the entire McGee family would be fed to the wolves if this went to trial, including their deceased mother and her tragic death that might come out as well which, in turn would drag out into the open, the unsavory story of one man being so incensed at raising a son that wasn't his that he was willing to drive that boy's mother to such distress that it led to her traffic accident._

_Having any of that come out for public ridicule and judgement wasn't right any more than a black mark on Tony's record over this was. Looking at his agent now, standing here, formally alone, erect and determined to fight this battle in his teammate's honor, Gibbs felt a wave of pride and respect for him and the deliberateness of his not making his personal issues at risk of exposure the reasons he was soundly putting stock in offering up a deal to put this issue behind them all. _

_Gibbs was at a loss as for any reason not to back Tim's idea completely. Turning to the head honcho, he asked "Why is this a waste of your time, Leon? Sounds like a plan to me. Everyone's name stays clean and the dirtbag still gets what's comin' to him, just at a reduced rate. Not perfect, but certainly serves the greater good here."_

"_Thought you didn't make deals, Gibbs?" Vance replied dryly._

"_Normally I don't. But, McGee's right. This situation isn't normal. I agree with him completely on this Tony deserves to have his name cleared and his career back without blemish. I for one, don't wanna see the McGees' family tragedy brought up as food for the gossip vultures out there. They don't deserve that. And there's no way I'm gonna let either Pike or McGee's father walk away from this unscathed. McGee's suggestion works for everyone."_

"_What happens if Pike doesn't take the deal?" the Director asked._

"_Then I'll publically accept the blame for the problem and resign." Tim said without hesitation. "That way, either way it plays out, Tony's record stays clean."_

"_McGee…" Gibbs tried to reprimand him for even thinking that way._

"_Boss, I can't sit by and just let Tony's career take a nose-dive like this, not when it was a personal problem in my family from the get-go. It's not right that the team got caught up in the mess Pike made. This is my problem, not Tony's!"_

"_Agent McGee…" now it was the Director's turn to attempt to get through to Tim._

"_The only thing Tony's guilty of is looking out for my sister and saving her life today. It's not right for that to be backfiring on him like this!"Tim's refusal to hear the Director out was rare enough that both Vance and Gibbs were stunned for a minute. _

_**Thawack**_

"_Ow. Boss?" Tim finally quieted down and came to a stop with his words._

"_Not happening, McGee." Gibbs told him sternly before turning his attention to Vance. "I'm not about to lose either of them to this, Leon, or let either of their career's take a hit over it. Neither of them deserve that. I'm sure you can persuade the bastard to take the deal." His tone left no doubt that any results other than what he was expecting were not going to be acceptable_

"_Hmm. Alright. I'll work out a deal for a reduced sentence for Pike in exchange for him dropping the lawsuit and never revisiting this again. But this conversation doesn't leave this room. Understood?"_

_Gibbs __smirked__. "Works for me."_

_Tim smiled softly. "Yes, Sir, and thank you."_

"_No, Agent McGee, thank you." Vance told him sincerely. Appreciate you going to bat for your teammate like this."_

"_He'd do the same for me." Tim replied with conviction._

"_Hmm. Alright. Dismissed, gentlemen. Go home." _

_Gibbs and Tim walked out of the Director's office silently, both seemingly lost in their thoughts._

_**End Flashback**_

"Boss?" Tony questioned again, bringing the older man back from his thoughts.

"Enjoy your evening, DiNozzo." Gibbs replied with a smirk as he got up and headed towards the bar.

Tony watched with confusion as the boss stopped at beside Tim and spoke to him. Tim glanced up at the boss and shook his head before looking back down at his drink. From his vantage point, Tony could see the less than happy expression on his probie's face even from across the room. The boss clamped his hand down on Probie's shoulder and then turned to leave but was brought up short by the three women who needed to talk to him.

With very few words spoken, from Tony's perception, the group trouped outside, leaving Tim and Tony inside, at opposite sides of the same room and the same problem.


	17. Chapter 17

Sitting at the bar, his hands wrapped around the drink he never wanted to begin with, Tim thinks back to the first few moments of elation and relief he'd felt as he and Gibbs had left Director Vance's Office earlier. The crisis had been averted and everything would be returned to normal by the next morning, of that he'd been certain. All memories and emotions involved in those memories of being kidnapped and beaten by his sister's boyfriend not even 48 hours before, seemed to just fade away, slipping off to the far recesses of his mind, no long needing to be the center of attention or even a blip on the radar. Even the brutally painful conversation between himself and the man he'd grown up believing was his father, wasn't hurting at this moment; although whether it would come back to hurt later or not was anybody's guess.

What he does know is what that look means that he saw on his little sister's face when he walked in the restaurant just a bit ago, before she realized he'd arrived. He and Sarah had never been close enough to talk about each other's relationships before; although she'd been an accidental witness to some of the more painful nights he'd lived through a time or two when he'd been feeling especially stepped on and vulnerable; oddly enough, all as the end result of something gone wrong between Abby and himself.

Nevertheless, he's not completely blind to what the genuine look of complete interest and hope for a future with someone looks like on his sister's face; after all, he has seen it before. As a matter of fact, it was that look on her face along with the message on her cell phone that had set things in motion for them both just the other day_. Strange, him seeing that look on her face again so soon. Was it possible or was he simply imagining things?_

_Sarah and Tony together_. That idea had both petrified and horrified him three and a half years ago when it had first come up for discussion between himself and Tony when Sarah had been set up for her ex-boyfriend's murder. He remembers it had been a thankfully short conversation, mostly Tim warning Tony off. But, the Tony back then was not the Tony that existed today. Tony DiNozzo had changed; even if he didn't want to admit it to the world. Tim had been there when the façade had slipped on more than one occasion. No instant more telling than the moment Tony had gazed into the fireplace after they'd found that missing baby, and then thrown what had looked like a letter into the fire and watched it burn. Tim may have been across the room at that moment and he may have been listening to Ziva and Gibbs make comments on who relieved they were that the baby had been found safe and sound, but he hadn't been looking anywhere but at Tony, concerned about him since his whole ordeal with Jeanne had been given undue attention during the course of the case they'd been solving.

Since then, Tim had noticed the pieces of who Tony was beneath the surface; had learned to look deeper, had come to realize that Tony and he and even Gibbs and Ziva shared a common trait; they were all deeper souls than they led the world to believe; the hidden layers protected at almost all costs. Listening to Tony's offhand comments about himself and the pieces of his history he'd let slip, left Tim with a completely different picture of who the older brash man really was. Now, the idea of him being interested in Sarah oddly enough, only brought a sense of peace and calmness to his soul, especially in the wake of her father's behavior and the effect it was bound to have on her as she eventually processed it all.

Sarah was a willful soul in her own right, stubborn and hard-headed as they came. She had their mother's beauty and lack of height, but her father's tenacity and unwillingness to bend when she believed in what she was doing or saying. Her intelligence was only overshadowed by her wit and her plans for her future proved that in spades. With her degree in English Literature already firmly within her reach since her B.A. degree would be handed to her at her graduation, just two weeks from tonight; Sarah's next step to her success with her degree was a Hardcopy Writer position with a leading newspaper.

While she had the opportunity to work for them full-time, she'd opted to continue her college education, in pursuit of a career in teaching. Tim knew that Sarah's life goals had changed; from simply being a writer, to being a teacher with a second career as a writer. She'd discovered the joy of sharing her knowledge and people skills with the younger generation and was looking forward to reaching those new goals.

Tim smiled as he remembered his little sister's penchant for perseverance even when it hadn't 'been a wise choice to do so. She would go far and if he was right about what he'd seen here tonight; she wouldn't be going it alone. Suddenly, he found himself hoping he was right. After all, he firmly believed in his initial assessment, Tony and Sarah would be good for each other.

"Hey, Probie." Tony's hesitant greeting dispelled Tim's train of thought, but brought back to the forefront of his mind, the unresolved and ill-explained problem between himself and his partner.

When Gibbs had stopped by to ask him if he needed a ride home since they'd ridden to the restaurant in Gibbs' car, Tim'd shaken his head in a gentle refusal; knowing the boss wanted to break away and get some room to breathe and regroup. He'd also been hanging on to the hope that Tony would want to sort this out tonight; whatever 'this' happened to be. Not knowing what Tony had been so upset about had unsettled Tim but realizing he now was having his wish handed to him on a silver platter, and the chance to get to the bottom of things had arrived, he took the bull by the horns and decided to just hang on for the ride.

"Have a seat, Tony. What's on your mind?"

"Wow. Not what I expected to hear from you." Tony quipped in an effort to give himself extra time to put his mask on.

"Tony. Look. I don't know what I did to piss you off. Whatever it is, I'm sorry."Tim offered gently and quietly.

"Lemme ask you somthin' Probie."

"Okay."

"Where'd you go when you disappeared from the squad room earlier?"

"I had to take care of something. Wait, a minute! That's why you're so pissed at me?"

"Well, yeah, Probie. I mean, c'mon! I get slapped with a major career hit and my friend and partner doesn't say a word? Instead he just up and disappears on me? On top of that, Gibbs does the same damn thing at the same time? C'mon, man, you can't tell me you wouldn't have been pissed if we'd done that to you. "

Tim looks long and hard at his friend and teammate, trying to understand how Tony could have immediately assumed the worst from him. Realizing the stress the older man had to have been under at the time, it wasn't that hard to understand how he'd jumped to the wrong conclusions. Tim was just sorry Tony had to go through those moments of feeling that he'd been done that way by the people he trusted. "Yeah. I guess, I'd be upset too." Tim admitted in complete sympathy. Needing to quickly move things away from what he couldn't talk about, he took a stab at a new topic to talk about. "Hey, speaking of friends. I noticed you and Sarah seem to be getting along really well."

"Uhm, yeah, I guess we are." Tony hemmed hesitantly. The last time they'd talked about Tim's sister, the guy had practically gone ballistic about it. Tony didn't need that problem now before he and Sarah had even had the chance to see what was or wasn't between them now that they were both more mature and actually knew each other at least enough to start somewhere.

"Hey, guys, are you ready to call it a night? We're in the mood to go to the movies!" Abby interrupted them before they'd even noticed she had come back inside with Ziva who stood silently by, watching them warily, as if sensing something was still off between them.

Tony turned to Abby with relief as he shuffled his thoughts back into the deck and reattached his façade, making sure nothing was showing that shouldn't be. Quickly, he gave her his answer before she could get too wound up on the idea. "No. Thanks, Abbs, but I'm really beat. I need to get some shut-eye." Tony cried off.

"Timmy?" Abby pleaded, obviously willing to let Tony have his way without a fight, but not willing to let the idea go without some kind of fight. "You need a change of scenery and there's plenty of movies to pick from."

"Sure, Abbs. I'd be happy to go with you and Ziva. Wait! Where's Sarah?" Tim's anxiety rose through the roof as he noticed his sister's absence.

"Gibbs took her home. She said she needed to talk to him and he offered so…" Abby announced blithely as if she were telling them it was going to rain.

It was hard to say who looked more shocked, Tim or Tony. Both girls were attacked with a fit of laughter at the sight of both of the guys'mouths hanging open in surprise and it was at that moment, that peace and harmony seemed to be restored fully among them without any further discussion; at least for now.

* * *

"Thank you for driving me home, Agent Gibbs." Sarah offered genuinely. "I really didn't want to go back to discussing anything with Tim tonight. Besides, he looked like he had other things on his mind. Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine." The Team Leader reassured her calmly, believing in what he was saying.

He knew his youngest agent and he'd seen first-hand, the stubborn penchant for steadily keeping going despite what he'd been thrown, in the young man. It had reinforced Gibbs' pride in Tim. Having heard the painful conversations and revelations that had come about in the midst of all this, all of which had added pain and stress for Tim, had also given the boss valuable insight into more of who the young man really was and what he'd risen above to become the respectable, hard working, peaceful, people pleasing character he'd allowed himself to become despite of it all.

"I know he's pretty tough, but, the last several days haven't been exactly normal for us." Sarah worried.

"You're both tough enough to get through it." Gibbs stressed what she needed to be reminded of. "Just gotta stop fighting each other and let the need to protect and look out for one another just happen."

"Do you know where Tim disappeared to earlier?" Sarah nodded as she accepted what Tim's boss was saying, even as she deliberately changed the subject.

"He needed to take care of something." The Silver haired man responded without hesitation or further explanation.

"Tony's problem that came from him saving my life." Sarah announced without hesitation.

Gibbs glanced at her wordlessly.

"I told Tony that's where Tim had gone to; to do whatever he could to help. Even bet him on it just so he'd believe me."

Gibbs laughed. "He took the bet."

"Yup, that he did. He owes me $200! Maybe he'll think twice before he thinks the worst of Tim again." Sarah said seriously.

Gibbs smiled as he promised himself to never bet against this young lady, but then allowed the smile to slip away as he took note of her comment about Tony's presumption regarding Tim. Yeah, the boss'd figured Tony's mood had been related to Tim's disappearance from the squad room earlier. He hadn't realized Tony would immediately assume the worst, though and he was grateful that while Tim was reacting calmly to Tony's mood, Sarah was reacting more proactively in an effort to seal the gap. He couldn't help but be impressed with her. Suddenly, he remembered she'd said she needed to talk to him. "What's this about, Sarah?"

* * *

Ziva, Abby and Tim left the restaurant parking lot only after Tony was seen safely leaving in his car. Tim had been residually nervous after the events of the last few days and he and Ziva had instinctively done a precursory check of the parking lot and surrounding street both for Tony's safety and their own. They were all still feeling the effects of what had been done to Tim.

Tony drove home, trying to ease his mind into neutral, too tired of having to think about everything or even anything at all. Despite his efforts to that effect, almost instantly, he found his mind returning to what had transpired in the restaurant tonight; both before Tim and Gibbs had arrived and after.

He's still trying to wrap his mind around the effect Sarah is having on him. Never one to put as much stock in first impressions as he led people to believe, Tony was well aware that this went beyond that; since they'd met before and interacted before; albeit briefly and under the duress of a stressful situation and painful revelations of secrets she hadn't even known she'd been keeping.

He remembers agreeing in his mind, with Gibbs' assessment of Sarah back then, she was and is very attractive, of that there is no doubt. He'd also seen some maturity within her since the last time they'd met. The time he'd spent watching Gibbs interrogate her four years ago had come back to him vividly, especially the moments when Gibbs had admonished her for putting her brother down for his published book.

Why that moment hadn't occurred to Tony when he, himself had taken it upon himself to give Tim hell for the same book, he couldn't recall. The same could be said when Tim's second book became public knowledge, not even six months later. Tony recalls threatening Tim at that point, with bodily harm if he ever even thought of writing a third book. Now, looking back, all Tony can do is wonder why he behaved that way.

It had been obvious in those few moments of interrogation four years ago, that the boss was actually proud of Tim's accomplishment, but then he'd allowed Tony and Ziva and even Abby in a smaller dose, to harass Tim and badger him about the characterizations he'd published without their knowledge or consent. The conflicting message had spurred Tony's negative attitude about the whole ordeal, he realized now.

_Had Tim ever told her about the truly obnoxious statement Tony had made to Tim about the pimple on his butt being a better writer than Tim? __God, he hoped not!_

Tony wonders how Tim ever managed to stay so forgiving in nature when things like that kept being dumped on him. Things like that and what he'd just been through with Pike and even Mr. McGee. _Was all that backlash from Tim's writing part of the reason Sarah had lit into Tony and been so angry at the way Tim had been treated by the team? Surely, that could be rectified if it was still a problem lying out there unresolved._

Breathing out a huge sigh of relief and resigned acceptance of his own past reprehensible behavior towards his friend and teammate, Tony shook his head slightly to clear his mind as pulled into his parking space in front of his apartment building and did the cursory looking around like he was supposed to before he got out. Not seeing anything wrong or out of the ordinary, he got out and trotted up to his apartment, not in any mood to be out here longer than necessary. Once inside the building, Tony seemed to deflate, almost as if he'd been holding his breath until he got inside. With a causal wave at the nightly security guard who buzzed him in, he took himself over to the mailboxes and proceeded to take out his stack of mail.

"Agent DiNozzo." Matthew Henley, the night watchman called his name.

"Hey, Matt, what's up?" Tony asked as he turned to look at the older man.

"You've got a visitor. Says she's a friend of yours and that you can vouch for her."

"She got a name?" Tony asked guardedly.

"Hey, Tony." Sarah's soft voice reached his ears as she stepped out from behind the guard.

"Hey, Sarah. I thought Gibbs drove you home."

Matthew relaxed at the mention of the Agent's boss. Tony had always made it clear who was allowed in and although this young lady had never been mentioned; the knowledge that the young man's boss also knew the young lady helped ease the uncertainty of the woman's presence. Come to think of it, now that he gave thought to it; wasn't his teammate's name McGee? "Hey, is she…?"

"My teammate's sister, yeah, Matt, she is. So, she's cool. Thank you for staying cautious, though."

"Always, Agent DiNozzo."

"Hey, Matt, I've told you a thousand times; 'Tony's fine."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The older man grinned as he turned back to monitoring the cameras and the door.

"Everything okay?" Tony asked with genuine concern. He knows Gibbs had taken her home and would probably go ballistic if he knew she'd turned around and come over here, alone and unprotected.

"Why does something have to be wrong?" she asked in confusion.

"Because Gibbs drove you back to your dorm room, but yet, you're here now."

"First, of all, Tony. I haven't lived in the dorms since last year. I share an apartment with a friend. Secondly, I had Gibbs drop me off here after we talked."

"Oh. OH! Oh, crap!" Tony muttered.

Sarah snickered. "Don't worry, everything's fine. I just needed to come to collect the $200 you owe me."

"You know something I don't?" he asked her with a grin, both at her assumption that she was right and at the possibility that she did know something he wanted to know but hadn't yet been told. That phone call from Vance earlier had been pretty bizarre, after all. Something had to have happened to have brought it all about.

"I know Agent Gibbs didn't deny it when I told him that I knew my brother had done whatever he could to make the problem go away since it was never your problem in the first place, but ours. We McGee's might be pig-headed, but there are times that being stubborn to that degree actually comes in quite handy, you know." She answered cheekily with a saucy grin. "Tim thinks way too much of you to let you fall on his sword."

"Yeah? Any chance you could be persuaded to tell me more about this conversation? I mean, after all, you are expecting me to pay up and honor the bet; seems only fair that I hear more detail so I can judge for myself whether or not you've actually won, don't you agree?" Tony threw back at her with his own sparkling eyes and happy smile. "We can sit on the couch and talk; about whatever it is you want."

"Relax, Tony. I won't bite." She laughed as she followed him up the stairs to his floor. Her heart felt lighter with every step, the knowledge that she was about to have a heart to heart talk with the man she'd long pined after, but had always though unreachable, fueling every step she took.

* * *

With everything piled together in Tim's mind, from the kidnapping and beating, to the conversation with his 'father' and Tony's problems with the case and even the looks and emotions he'd noticed along the way, Tim somehow managed to avoid the pit of horrible dreams and actually get a decent night's sleep.

Waking up the next morning, he even managed to be ready earlier than usual, but wide awake enough to not be bothered by that. Since he still hadn't gotten Jethro back from his friend Mark, who'd agreed to take him temporaily until the chaos had passed, there was little more to take up his time, than getting ready for work. He had no inclination for anything else; be it logging online for anything or heaven forbid, writing or even reading. With a sigh of resignation of the new work day facing him, Tim headed out, hoping this new day would be better than the last.

While the peace and quiet that reined within the squad room when he arrived, was a welcome change, Tim soon found himself wishing for some noise to alleviate the solitude; having had more than enough of that to last him a while. Rather than dwell on that, Tim chose to dig into the next cold case sitting on his desk, soon tuning out everything around him as he re-read and re-searched his way back through the case, piece by piece.

Gibbs was the next to arrive, with hope alive in his pocket that things would be able to return to normal with his team. He'd deliberately not strayed into the rift between his two boys last night, knowing they were smart enough to find their own way back out of it, if they'd simply take the time to remember who they were as people and teammates, Truth be told; he had no patience to deal with the rift and if he saw any malingering signs of it, he'd be sending both of them down to Ducky for an old fashioned lecture within an hour of their arrival.

Seeing Tim already at work before the rest of the world had even woken up, unsettled the boss in equal measure with sending a sense of pride through him. Since work was actually being done, Gibbs left the young man alone, choosing instead to go on about his business of getting fresh coffee, only, this time, bringing Tim back a cup as well.

When the coffee was placed on his desk, Tim stopped and refocused on the world around him. Smiling at his boss' thoughtfulness, he offered a genuine response. "Thanks, Boss."

"Hmm.. Wanna tell me why you're here so early?"

"I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Thought I'd get something done with the time, Boss." Tim answered without hesitation.

"Hmm. Don't make a habit of it, McGee."

"I won't." Tim vowed as he enjoyed the coffee and returned his attention to his work without further discussion of anything.

Gibbs smiled at the way things were returning back to normal for the young man, with no sign of stress or anxiety from the previous days ' incidents. With a tiny shake of his head, he sat down and dug into his own work, allowing a peaceful, companionable silence to settle in the squad room.

As Tim glanced at his watch a little while later, he noticed it was going on six-twenty and the team would be coming in soon. Standing up, he glanced at his long silent boss and quietly told him he was going for coffee. Without waiting for an answer, Tim left the squad room and headed out.

Ziva arrived a short twenty minutes later, looking ready to face the day although she did appear to be worried about something. "Good morning, Gibbs."

"Mornin' Ziva."

"Have you seen McGee?" she asked with a tone that allowed her worry to be heard.

"Yup, he's gone for coffee."

"And how is he this morning?" she persisted.

"I'm fine, Ziva. Thank you. Here ya go." Tim handed her a coffee as he answered her question. Silently, he also set out Tony's and the boss' coffee before returning to his own desk and discarding the drink carrier and settling down in his chair and taking a moment to savor the refreshing drink and the companionable peace and quiet.

Gibbs smiled and lifted his fresh coffee up in partial salute to his youngest agent and looked over at Ziva to see what was going on with her. She stood watching Tim settle back into work with an appraising eye.

Sensing Gibbs' looking her way, she spared him a glance and took in his silent nod that told her to leave Tim alone and get into her own tasks. Nodding her agreement, she did just that.

Tony's arrival, a short few minutes later was announced with his singing.

"Good morning. Good morning! Good morning. Good… good morning, to you! You! You! You! Good – ooh. Sorry, Boss."

"Wow, Tony. I haven't heard you sing that in what has it been: four years?" Ziva asked with a knowing twinkle in her eye.

"Hey, what can I say, everything's right as rain." The Senior Field Agent replied glibly as he sat down and booted up his workstation. He obviously couldn't mess around since the boss was already sitting at his desk working, as was his probie.

"Hey, McGee. You're awfully quiet over there. What's up with you?"

"Nothing, Tony. Hope the coffee's the way you like it." Tim answered as he kept his focus on his work.

"Coffee? Huh? Oh, Coffee! Thanks, man, you're alright, I don't care what Ziva says about you."

Gibbs smirked from behind his coffee cup while Tim's smile lit up his face and he shook his head slightly and snickered in merriment. Ziva looked affronted for a mere moment before she too smiled at Tony's normal antics.

Tony looked around at his team. _Yup, Everything was back to normal. Thank goodness for that! Would they stay that way and how long, would the reprieve last?_


	18. Epilogue

_Six Weeks Later_

Gibbs had watched in his normal 'functional mute' way as his team reconnected even stronger over the last month and a half than before the whole kidnapping incident. He couldn't be more satisfied with how they'd handled everything, especially his boys. Tony was undoubtedly happier than he'd been in a very long time and the two of them were getting along and genuinely working together almost seamlessly, like they'd done while Ziva had been back in Israel those few months. They'd even woven the fabric of their team tightly enough that Ziva, too seemed more settled within the ranks, with no more need to play the peacemaker or even the voice of reason. There were days Gibbs wondered if he'd stepped out into the twilight zone or if his team had been replaced by aliens. Still he couldn't knock it for the better way things were for his kids.

McGee seemed to have finally let go of his guilt from his mother's death; probably having worked at it over the course of the first few weeks. He'd never mentioned it to Gibbs again, although the boss had kept a closer eye on him after that, than he'd ever done before, which was why he'd noticed the diminishing signs of sleep deprivation and tension eminating from his recovering agent. Outside of those signs, the young man had acted as if the whole kidnapping and being beaten up incident had merely been a challenge to rise above and he'd done just that, climbing every step privately and without fanfare or discussion, never looking back.

In fact, Ducky had mentioned being concerned at McGee's total avoidance of the subject, even going so far as to suggest that Gibbs might need to make a point of talking to the young man and getting him to at least let them know he was talking things through with some one, hopefully in the professional community so he would not be visited by this at a later point in his life, if left lying unresolved deep within the recesses of his mind; or worse, buried where it could rise up again one day.

Since those few stress filled, painful days. Gibbs couldn't be more proud of McGee than he was as he watched him treat each new day as just that; a new beginning and never once doing anything but looking at the present day or even the ones to come. As he reined his thoughts on this in, he found his thoughts automatically turning to his other 'son'.

Tony had bounced back with extra vigor and a happiness he hadn't been able to hide; something else that wasn't lost on Gibbs. The frat boy persona seemed to have been replaced overnight with a more mature, less hazing version of the Tony they all knew and loved. While the pranks and jokes didn't stop, they had lost their deliberate overstepping bite and had definitely stopped going over that line that crossed into personal intrusion and invasion into Tim's personal business. After a few raised eyebrows when the newer, more respectable Tony began to emerge, things got back to normal, albeit a newer, more mature version of it.

They'd all gone to Sarah McGee's graduation and that night had given Gibbs more insight into just how much Tony had changed in the last few weeks. He now sported the manners fit for a true English Gentleman and never so much as glanced at another woman while Sarah McGee was in his presence, hardly at all, even. Surprisingly, McGee had seemed perfectly okay with taking the less active role at Sarah's side that night, even going so far as to beg off from being her escort to the graduation parties she was keen on going to. "I love you, Sis. But that's actually Tony's forte, not mine. I think you know that by now." He'd smiled at her and at Tony. Sharing a telling look with the Senior Field Agent, McGee had congratulated her once more and then left, anxious to get home and take care of his dog.

Shaking his head slightly at the memories of that night, Gibbs took a moment to realize things weren't completely back to normal just yet. There were still moments where Tony looked over at Tim with uncertainty, but always when the younger man wasn't looking. While the reason behind this hadn't clear at first, all it had taken was one time of seeing Tony's glance down to his phone right before he looked over at Tim, for Gibbs to have figured out what was going on. The boss knew that Tony kept a graduation photo of Sarah McGee on his phone and had it set proudly as his wallpaper. Tony had accidentally left his phone open on his desk one day a couple of weeks ago, and the photo had been impossible to miss. Just as the guilty look on Tony's face had been impossible to miss when he'd realized Gibbs was on to him about still seeing the young woman. Gibbs had smiled and walked away. There'd been no need to discuss it because it was his senior agent's business, and the relationship didn't seem to disrupt the team in any way.

Gibbs still remembered the talk he had with a certain young woman who'd respected him and his place in her brother's life enough to come to him and be upfront with him about it since she knew would affect him.

_**Flashback**_

"What's this about, Sarah"

"_I needed to ask you something important."_

"_And you couldn't ask me in front of my team." He reasoned out her need for his attention when no one else was around._

"_No." She admitted._

"_Okay. Shoot."_

"_I need to know if you'd have a problem if Tony and I decided to start seeing each other. I know you have this rule about your team members dating…."_

"_And you're worried that I would apply that rule to you, too."_

"_Well, Tim's always saying that you're dead serious about your rules, so.."_

"_Sarah, I appreciate you checking with me first. I have to ask what happens if Tim doesn't like the idea?"_

"_We'll work through it. I promise you, Agent Gibbs. I will never put Tim through anything like what just happened again." Sarah vowed._

"_That's good to know, but Tony's hardly in the same category as that lunatic." Gibbs told her sternly._

"_What? Oh, no! That wasn't what I meant! I was talking about the secrets and dishonesty."_

"_Good to know, too. He deserves more respect than what you showed him in this mess."_

"_I know, Agent Gibbs. I can't tell you how sorry I am about all of this."_

"_Hmm. Not me you should be saying this to."_

"_I know. And I intend on talking to Tim. Just not tonight. He looked like he'd had enough of even thinking about it to last him a while. I wanted to give him some space."_

"_So you could ask me if I have a problem with you and Tony dating?"_

"_While I have the chance, yes."_

"_Mmm. No, Sarah. I don't have a problem with it. But, if it screws up my team, I'll definitely have a problem with it."_

"_Why would it…Oh, right. No, I promise, I'll talk to Tim and make sure he's okay with it. But, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to be able to decide for myself when the best time to do that would be. I mean, I don't want to jump the gun and say something to Tim if it turns out nothing happens between Tony and I from this point anyway,"_

"_Fair enough."_

"_Thank you, Agent Gibbs. I know this is a bit forward, but would you mind driving me to Tony's? I have the small matter of collecting on that bet that I'd like to take care of while it's still fresh on Tony's mind."_

_Gibbs grinned as he turned the car around and headed towards Tony apartment. He liked the way this young woman had grown and matured. She was gonna keep Tony on his toes, that's for sure_.

_**End Flashback**_

Looking back at the silent dancing around each other they'd been doing lately, it was clear that his two boys hadn't resolved at least this one issue. While it hadn't affected their work or even their attitude with each other, it was clearly affecting them as individuals. Gibbs remembers that Sarah had vowed to talk to her brother about her dating Tony and he couldn't help but wonder if her plea to be allowed to have that talk in her own time, was a mistake. It's clear that said conversation hasn't taken place as of yet and for some reason, Tony is more antsy this morning than he has been in a long time. Determined to knock this one last mis-aligned piece of the puzzle back into place, he stood up and rounded the front of his desk.

"DiNozzo, with me." The boss ordered somewhat quietly as he walked by the man's desk enroute to the elevator.

Tony looked up and frowned, but the look on Gibbs' face as he walked past told the younger man, that he meant business. With a heavy heart, he stood up and followed his Boss knowing that this wasn't going to be good.

"McGee." Ziva loudly whispered over. She waited until Tim looked up at her and leaned forward. "What do you think Gibbs wanted?"

Tim shrugged. "Who knows. With Tony, anything's possible."

Ziva nodded and went back to her emails, leaving Tim gazing suspiciously over at the elevator doors as they closed.

"Boss?" Tony asked nervously after Gibbs had flicked the switch to his makeshift office. "What'd I do?"

"You got something on your mind?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

Gibbs raised his eyebrow in his patented '_you know exactly what I'm talking about'_ look.

Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded. _Sure, things were off and the reason behind it was his relationship with Sarah. Tim obviously knew about them, but for some reason he'd steadfastly remained silent on the subject, causing Tony to believe that his relationship with the probie's little sister had caused a minor rift between the two friends and maybe even the siblings_. Tony thought that rift was growing wider each day.

"DiNozzo, spit it out before it chokes you. Something's off with you. I'm not blind. Judging by the way you keep looking at McGee, it's between the two of you. If this is gonna affect my team, I won't have it. "

"Boss, I…"

Again, the eyebrow marched up to the hairline with what the boss didn't need to say but clearly needed Tony to be reminded of.

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Tony nodded. "I'll talk to him."

"Make sure you do." Gibbs stated firmly and set the lift back in motion. His hand jerked up causing Tony to flinch, but instead of the head slap, Gibbs paused with a grin and tapped his cheek. "Attaboy." He stood still as Tony moved out of the elevator. "

Before Tony had taken more than four steps, heard his name called again.

"DiNozzo."

Looking back, he noted the boss hadn't moved and stood waiting for him to return back to him to hear what else he needed to say.

"Boss? Tony asked when he once more stood in front of the man.

"Ask Sarah if she intends to keep her promise to me. Might wanna remind her she's on thin ice with it."

"Boss?" Tony questioned with genuine confusion but found himself speaking to the air around him since the boss had already walked out around him and returned to his desk and his work.

Tony walked back into the squad room and squared his shoulders. Gibbs was right; this really couldn't go on and the longer it did, the more it threatened to cause real problems. He paused briefly in front of his desk before carrying on to Tim's. "Hey McGoo. Boss wants us to go out for coffee."

Tim didn't look up from his searches while he answered. "That's a one man job, Tony."

"Come on! It'll be fun. You…Me…when do we do anything together?" He watched Tim sigh before turning to him with a suspicious look on his face.

"Tony, what's wrong with you? You hit your head or something?" Tim sighed and went back to what he was doing. He winced as a hand connected with the back of his head.

"Just go, McGee." Tim rubbed the back of his head and moved to take his wallet out of his top drawer. "Won't need that. It's on me." Gibbs pulled some money out of his wallet and handed it over to Tony before going back to his desk as silently as he'd walked up the boys.

"Thanks Boss. You ready?" Tony offered.

Tim nodded. "Yeah."

Tony turned and walked over to the elevator, only pausing briefly at the recently open door, to wait for Tim. Once they were inside, he mimicked his Boss and flicked the switch so that the box stopped and the emergency lights flicked on.

"Tony? What's wrong with you?" Tim asked cautiously.

"McGee. Tim. I…we…damn it." Tony rubbed his hand over his eyes and sighed. "Look, I…I can't do this." Flipping the elevator switch back on, Tony thrust the money at Tim and disappeared from his sight, leaving Tim holding the money and rooted to the floor in shock.

Shaking his head, Tim hit the button for the right floor and went about what Gibbs had asked him to do, knowing it was fruitless to chase Tony down. He'd talk when he was ready. He couldn't help but worry about what it might be that had Tony this flustered around him. Common sense and the knowledge of who Tony was on the inside, had Tim's brain going to the answer rather quickly._ Sarah_.

Smiling, Tim continued on his way toward the coffee shop and placed the orders, sitting patiently at the counter while the coffees were made. His thoughts automatically returned to their previous focus point. Seeing Tony this nervous could only mean he was getting serious about Sarah and was afraid Tim was gonna ream him out or worse, chase him off. Tim had no plans to do either of the two. Still it would have been nice if his little sister had talked to him about this. Tony being too scared to face Tim about his little sister was understandable. Sarah's avoidance of him and not talking to him about it was not.

Still, being hurt by Sarah's choice to distance herself from her brother did not trump making sure Tony knew that his desire to pursue Sarah was not a problem. As the drinks were placed in front of him, Tim blew out a sigh of frustration as he put his thoughts away and walked back to the office with a semi-blank slate of thoughts, wanting the peace and quiet that thinking about nothing in particular brought with it.

Coming back to the squad room, Tim found it empty except for Tony, who sat morosely behind his desk, staring off into space, his face scowling at something unknown. Tim stood there watching Tony and could see the nervousness in his friends face along with the scowl. He didn't begrudge the man a relationship with his sister; far from it. What worried him was Tony's long-standing habit of publically playing like he was Don Juan and Tim didn't want Sarah getting hurt. But, then again, these last few weeks had proven that Sarah knew what she wanted and Tony had indeed seemed to settle down and focus solely on Sarah, so Tim knew he didn't have to do the worrying about his little sister nearly as much as he'd had to before.

He did, however, still need to be there if things fell apart; and this time, he'd need to be able to be there for his best friend as well as his little sister. Before things got too much further for either of them, Tim felt it was time he said something; even if they couldn't or wouldn't say anything to him. His role in both their lives was too important to him and he wasn't about to let either of them believe he wasn't going to be there for them. He'd talk to Sarah later. But right now, he needed to talk to Tony.

Tim couldn't help but look at the older man who'd long been his best friend and teammate with a serious look on his face. With a resigned sigh, he frowned at Tony's increasingly stressed out state and walked over to his desk and cleared his throat, causing the older man to look up at him finally. "Hey, Probie."

Tim squared his gaze on Tony so that he could drive his point home with as much feeling as he could exude. "Tony. Just don't hurt her."

It was at that moment, as he paused in returning to his desk from around the corner of Tony's desk, that Gibbs realized that the time had come when his team was truly back to normal. Hearing McGee let Tony off the proverbial hook where dating his sister was concerned, brought everything back full circle and allowed the Team Leader the realization that nothing more needed to be said; to any of them. Despite Ducky's concern to the contrary, everything was fine. He felt confident of that because he knew that they would all find their own feet at some point in time.

He silently walked back to his desk and as he sat down, Tim also returned to his seat, amidst Tony's stunned silence. Once seated, Gibbs sat back in his chair and let his gaze wander to each of his agents as they returned their attention to their respective workload in front of them.

It had been a long time since he had seen them all just being themselves and he could only hope, that whatever else life threw at them, they'd conquer it and let nothing ever stand in their way of being at peace with themselves like this again

_FINIS_


End file.
